Banned Books Week

What is the difference between a challenge or banning?

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.  Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Definition from the American Library Association

The top ten most frequently challenged books of 2021 are:

1. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.
2. Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
3. All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson
   Reasons:  LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
4. Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Perez
   Reasons: Depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
5. The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
   Reasons: Profanity, violence and it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda.
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Profanity, sexual references, and use of a deragatory term/
7. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews
   Reasons: Considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.
8. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: Depicts child sexual abuse and because it was considered sexually explicit.
9. This Book is Gay, by Juno Dawson
   Reasons: Providing sexual Education and LGBTQIA+ content.
10. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin
    Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered sexually explicit

Information from the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association.

ALA Links to Frequently Challenged Titles Lists

100 Most Frequently Challenged Books 1990-1999

100 Most Frequently Challenged Books 2000-2009

100 Most Frequently Challenged Books 2010-2019

ALA lists of Frequently Challenged Books

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
  Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
  
  
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
  Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
  
  
• Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, by Michael Bellesiles
  Reason: inaccuracy
  
  
• Forever, by Judy Blume
  Reasons: offensive language, sexual content
  
  
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
  Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
  
  
• The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
  Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
  
  
• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
  Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence
  
  
• Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
  Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
  
  
• To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
  Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group
  
  
• Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
  Reason: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexual content, violence
  
  
• ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
  Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
  
  
• Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
  Reasons: occult/Satanism, offensive language, violence
  
  
• Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
  Reasons: occult/Satanism, violence
  
  
• The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger
  Reasons: sexual content, offensive language, unsuited to age group
  
  
• In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
  Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit

• Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
  Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group, violence
  
  
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
  Reason: offensive language
  
  
• The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter
  Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
  
  
• Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter
  Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence.