Books unite us. They reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, divides us and creates barriers. Celebrate intellectual freedom with this staff picks list of some of the most frequently challenged and banned books.
Compiled by:
Emily B.
Morriso
Morrison’s classic novel which is frequently taught in universities has been banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse.
Haddon
The lauded story of a boy on the autism spectrum has been banned and challenged for offensive language, its religious viewpoint, use of profanity, and discussion of atheism.
GN Curato Flamer
It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
GN 741.5092 Bechdel Bec
Graphic novel Fun Home was nominated for numerous awards and turned into a stage musical. It has been banned and challenged for violence and graphic images.
N 921 Kobabe Kob
Maia's (em/e/eir) intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale is a multi award winning book that was turned into a popular television series. It was banned and challenged for profanity and for vulgarity and sexual overtones.
220.52 Bib
This standard Christian religious text has been banned and challenged for its religious viewpoint.
Hossein
This critically acclaimed, multigenerational novel was challenged and banned because it includes sexual violence and was thought to lead to terrorism and promote Islam.
Picoult
The daughter of a judge in a New Hampshire school shooting case witnessed the events, but she can't remember the last several minutes of the attack.
Y Perez
Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is Black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.
GN 741.5092 Satrapi Sat
Persepolis is a critically acclaimed graphic novel which has been banned and challenged for gambling, offensive language, and its political viewpoint, as well as being considered politically, racially, and socially offensive and including graphic depictions.
Irving
11-year-old Owen Meany, playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire, hits a foul ball and kills his best friend's mother. Owen doesn't believe in accidents; he believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul is both extraordinary and terrifying.
GN Saga v. 1
A critically-acclaimed graphic novel series, Saga has been banned and challenged for being anti-family, nudity, offensive language, being sexually explicit, and unsuited for specific age groups.
Y Mccormi
13-year-old Lakshmi leaves her poor mountain home in Nepal thinking that she is to work in the city as a maid, only to find that she has been sold into the sex slave trade in India—and that there's no hope of escape.
305.8009 Rey
This recent title was banned and challenged because of the author’s public statements, as well as claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people.
921 Dugard Dug
Jaycee Dugard’s account of her kidnapping has been banned and challenged for drugs, offensive language, being sexually explicit, and unsuited for specific age groups.
Lee
This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic has been banned and challenged for offensive language and racism.
GN Moore Watchmen
As former members of a disbanded group of superheroes called the "Crimebusters" start turning up dead, the remaining members of the group try to discover the identity of the murderer before they, too, are killed.
Gruen
Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There, he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world.