These are some of the most commonly challenged or banned books in the US, according to the American Library Association (ALA) and other sources who track this kind of information. How many have you read? Do you think these books should be in school libraries?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
This award-winning novel by Sherman Alexie follows the life of a Native American teenager who leaves his reservation to attend an all-white high school. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as sexual references, profanity, violence, alcohol use, and negative stereotypes of Native Americans.
It won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2007.
The Captain Underpants Series
The Captain Underpants Series, by Dav Pilkey, is a humorous series featuring two fourth-graders who create a comic book superhero named Captain Underpants. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as encouraging disobedience, inappropriate humor, violence, and LGBTQIA+ content.
The series has won numerous awards including Winner of Garden State Children’s Book Awards (Children’s Fiction) in 2000, the Buckeye Children’s Book Award (Grades 3-5) in 2001, and Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award (Grades K-3) in 2000.
Thirteen Reasons Why
This novel written by Jay Asher tells the story of a teenage girl who commits suicide and leaves behind 13 tapes explaining why she did it. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as suicide, sexual assault, drug use, profanity, and graphic descriptions. The book has received many awards, including being a New York Times Bestseller for over three years:
- 2013 – Abraham Lincoln Award winner
- 2010 – South Carolina Young Adult Book Award winner
- 2009 – International Reading Association Young Adults’ Choice list
- 2009 – Writing Conference’s Literature Festival
- 2008 – Best Books for Young Adults YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)
- 2008 – Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers YALSA
- 2008 – Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults YALSA
- 2008 – California Book Award silver medal – Young Adult
It was also made into a multiple season series for Netflix, and has been nominated for Emmy’s and Golden Globe Awards.
Looking for Alaska
Looking for Alaska is a novel that follows the experiences of a teenage boy who falls in love with a mysterious girl at a boarding school. Written by John Green, it has been banned or challenged for reasons such as sexual content, profanity, alcohol use, and “inappropriate” themes.
The book has won several awards:
- Winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, 2005
- A 2005 Teens’ Top Ten Selection
- An ALA Best Book for Young Adults Top 10
- An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers
- A Booklist Editors’ Choice
- A Kirkus Best Book of 2005
- A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
- A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
- Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis finalist (Germany); Silver Inky Award (Australia)
- Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
- Borders Original Voices Selection
- One of Common Sense Media’s “Essential Books for Kids & Teens”
George
By Alex Gino, this novel tells the story of a transgender girl who wants to play the role of Charlotte in her school’s production of Charlotte’s Web. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as LGBTQIA+ content, gender identity, and confusing children.
George won the Stonewall Book Award’s Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award, in 2016.
As of 2021, the author began signing the book as “Melissa’s Story”. They stated “the title of my book made it seem as though it is OK to use an old name for a person when they have provided you with a different name that works better for them. I want to be clear – it isn’t,” as reported in The Guardian. Copies have now been printed with a different cover.
And Tango Makes Three
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell wrote this children’s book based on the real-life story of two male chinstrap penguins who formed a bond and raised a chick together at the Central Park Zoo. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as homosexuality, same-sex parenting, and promoting an agenda.
And Tango Makes Three won multiple awards, including American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Henry Bergh Award (2005), American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book (2006), Bank Street Best Books of the Year, and the Rainbow Project Book List (2008), and been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award (Magnuson, 2012, p.4). It has also been in American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom‘s Top Ten Most Challenged Books eight times since publication in 2005.
The Handmaid’s Tale
This dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood depicts a future where women are oppressed and forced to bear children for powerful men in a totalitarian regime. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as sexual content, profanity, violence, anti-Christian themes, and political views.
The book was a #1 worldwide bestseller.
It was a made into a multi-season, award winning television show for Hulu. The first season won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 13 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series.
It is the first show produced by Hulu to win a major award as well as the first series on a streaming service to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. Elisabeth Moss was also awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series.
To Kill a Mockingbird
This classic novel by Harper Lee explores the themes of racism, justice, and innocence through the eyes of a young girl in the South during the 1930s. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as racial slurs, profanity, violence, and negative portrayals of African Americans.
It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, spent 88 weeks on the bestseller list and, has sold more than 30 million copies.
The book received the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, a group founded in 1927 — renamed in the 1990s as the National Conference for Community and Justice — dedicated to promoting religious, racial, gender and social equity and diversity.
American librarians selected “To Kill a Mockingbird” as the best novel of the 1900s.
It was made into an Academy Award-winning film. The 1962 movie won for Best Writing of an Adaptation, and Best Art Direction for a black-and-white film, and received additional nominations, including Best Picture.
The Catcher in The Rye
J.D. Salinger wrote this famous novel, which follows the experiences of a rebellious teenager who runs away from his boarding school and wanders around New York City. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as profanity, sexual references, violence, alcohol use, and negative influence on youth.
The book was a 1952 Fiction Finalist for the National Book Award (presented by the National Book Foundation). It has been translated into many languages, and has sold over 65 million copies.
The novel was included on Time‘s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and it was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2003, it was listed at number 15 on the BBC’s survey “The Big Read”.
The Color Purple
This novel written by Alice Walker tells the story of a Black woman who struggles with abuse, poverty, racism, and sexism in the South during the early 20th century. It has been banned or challenged for reasons such as sexual content, profanity, violence, homosexuality, and offensive language.
It was made into an Oscar and Golden Globe nominated film, was awarded The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983, and the National Book Award for Fiction the same year.
What You Can Do About Censorship
These are just some examples of books that have been banned or challenged in the US. There are many more books that have faced censorship for various reasons. If you are interested in learning more about banned books, you can visit the ALA website and check out their list of top 100 most banned and challenged books. You can also find out more about why books are banned and how to fight against censorship here.
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
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18 of the World’s Deadliest Foods: How Many Are You Eating?
Whether you eat to live, or live to eat, let’s make sure you live to see another day! These are some of the world’s deadliest foods. They can bring on extreme symptoms, ranging from paralysis to seizures, choking and even death, so don’t go tucking these into your lunchbox. Click for 18 of the World’s Deadliest Foods: How Many Are You Eating?
10 Of The Worst Tasting Drinks People Pretend To Like
Hold onto your taste buds, because we’re about to embark on a flavor-filled adventure through the realm of beverages! Sure, we all need water to survive, but let’s be real – drinks are so much more than just basic hydration. Recently, the question of which beverages people secretly think taste awful sparked a fiery debate. Boozy elixirs, non-alcoholic refreshments, and everything in between were thrown into the mix. Brace yourself as we unveil the truth behind the drinks we pretend to love. Get ready for a wild ride of taste revelations! Read 10 Of The Worst Tasting Drinks People Pretend To Like
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After you click through this slide show you will never look at a jar of mayo the same way again. Trust us. Click for 14 Of The Craziest Hacks People Use Mayonnaise For – Even In The Bedroom!
Take Back Control: How to Identify and Tackle Medical Gaslighting
What is medical gaslighting? Medical gaslighting refers to a situation in which healthcare providers dismiss or diminish the symptoms that an individual is experiencing, attempting to persuade them that the symptoms are attributed to an alternative cause or are mere figments of their imagination. Medical gaslighting can leave you questioning your own experience. And at worse can lead to undiagnosed serious illness.
Learn the signs and the ways in which you can take back control if this happens to you. Read: Take Back Control: How to Identify and Tackle Medical Gaslighting
Don’t Fall For These 17 Foods That Pretend To Be Healthy
Have you heard the term “Dr. Google”? That’s when you turn to search engines and the Internet to provide health and medical information – and unless you know how to vet sources, it is a mine field of faulty information. Here are 17 foods that you might have heard are “healthy”, but we have the whole story. PS: the moment a food becomes a trend, research carefully. We’re looking at you bulletproof coffee!
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17 Of The Most Expensive Foods In The World: Would You Pay This Much To Eat Any Of These?
These days our food budget is not going very far, even for everyday foods. And yet, there are still those who seek out extravagant foods, regardless of price. I guess we can live vicariously through these pictures. Maybe someday someone will bestow a 4-pound white truffle upon us, but until then, this will have to suffice.
Click for 17 Of The Most Expensive Foods In The World: Would You Pay This Much To Eat Any Of These?
19 Of The World’s Most Overrated Foods
We have foods we love, and those we won’t touch. We all have our own likes and dislikes, but what are the most overrated foods? That was the question posed on this Reddit thread by Even_Cause_3478. There were a lot of opinions. Some made sense to us, and some were things we had never thought of before!
What is the most overrated food in your opinion?
Click for 19 Of The World’s Most Overrated Foods
Miracle at 30,000 Feet: What Happens When a Baby is Born During a Flight?
Have you ever wondered What Happens If You Give Birth On a Plane? Who delivers the baby? Where do you deliver the baby? What is the child’s citizenship, and do they get free trips for life?
Is Cash Still King In Your Life? 13 Reasons People Still Carry Cash
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Cash lovers, and those who never carry it. What’s the reasoning, either way? A Redditor was thinking the same thing, and asked the question, Do You Still Carry Cash? These are the answers they got. Read Is Cash Still King In Your Life? 13 Reasons People Still Carry Cash
