LibGuides: Banned Books Week: Let Freedom Read!

Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022

The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracks any reported attempts to ban books across America. In 2022, OIF documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources! This is the highest number of attempted book bans since the ALA began compiling data about censorship over 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Censors targeted a record 2,571 unique titles in 2022, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of the reported titles, the vast majority were written by/about members of the LGBTQIA+ community, Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.

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.

Statistics courtesy of the American Library Association.

Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe
ISBN: 9781549304002
Maia's 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.
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
ISBN: 9780374312718
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Afterword by)
ISBN: 0452273056
Eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove, an African-American girl in an America whose love for blonde, blue-eyed children can devastate all others, prays for her eyes to turn blue, so that she will be beautiful, people will notice her, and her world will be different. The story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove, the tragic heroine of Toni Morrison's haunting first novel, grew out of her memory of a girlhood friend who wanted blue eyes.
Flamer by Mike Curato
ISBN: 9781627796415
In the summer between middle school and high school, Aiden Navarro is away at camp where he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can not stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
ISBN: 9780142402511
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
ISBN: 9781451696196
Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is navigating through the strange worlds of love, drugs, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and dealing with the loss of a good friend and his favorite aunt.
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
ISBN: 1616209232
Mike Muñoz is a young Mexican American not too many years out of high school--and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew. Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can't seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
ISBN: 9780316013680
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
ISBN: 9781467742023
New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people who enforce them. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive. (Set during the 1937 New London school explosion, the deadliest school disaster in American history.).
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
ISBN: 9781619634466
Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court -- but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people. Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms -- and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future -- and the future of a world cleaved in two.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
ISBN: 9780689865190
Kristina Snow is a good third year high school student. But when she visits her drug-dealing father, she is introduced to crystal meth, or 'crank.' Kristina quickly develops a drug alter ego named Bree, who is fast, sexy, and daring. But Bree's insatiable need for the monster, crank, drives her further into perilous behavior. Written in free verse, Crank is based on Ellen Hopkins' experience with her own daughter.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
ISBN: 9781613123065
Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.
This Book Is Gay by James Dawson; David Levithan (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781492617822
Lesbian. Bisexual. Queer. Transgender. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. There's a long-running joke that, after "coming out," a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. THIS IS THAT INSTRUCTION MANUAL. You're welcome. Inside you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more. This candid and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention illustrations.

Frequently Banned & Challenged Books

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has been tracking and recording attempts to ban books since 1990. The following list is just a snapshot of the most banned and challenged books. For a more extensive list and some great information, visit the ALA page for more Frequently Challenged Books.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds; Ibram X. Kendi
ISBN: 9780316453691
The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
ISBN: 0374371520
In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
ISBN: 0060194995
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos.
Sex Is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg; Fiona Smyth (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781609806064
A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender identities, Sex Is a Funny Word is an essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 8 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers. Much more than the "facts of life" or “the birds and the bees," Sex Is a Funny Word opens up conversations between young people and their caregivers in a way that allows adults to convey their values and beliefs while providing information about boundaries, safety, and joy.
Prince and Knight by Daniel Haack; Stevie Lewis (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781499805529
In this modern fairy tale, a noble prince and a brave knight come together to defeat a terrible monster and in the process find true love in a most unexpected place.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
ISBN: 0395404258
An acclaimed dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. The Handmaid's Tale, set in New England in the near future, posits a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime in the former United States that arose as a response to a fertility crisis.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling; Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0590353403
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0525471340
Skippyjon Jones is a Siamese cat with an overactive imagination who would rather be El Skippito, his Zorro-like alter ego.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
ISBN: 9780394429861
An African American woman recalls the anguish of her childhood in Arkansas and her adolescence in northern slums in the 1930's and 1940's."I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography describing the early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
ISBN: 0385509456
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic, fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
ISBN: 1400052173
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The story of the Lacks family is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; Amandla Stenberg (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9780062498533
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
ISBN: 9780763656119
Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves.