Banned Books Week 2023

Every year during Banned Books Week (October 1-7 this year), the American Library Association (ALA) celebrates the freedom to read by recognizing books that have been challenged, censored, and banned in libraries and schools.

Check out some of the most challenged books (below)—and why they were challenged—from the last year (compiled from data from the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom).

Book bans, censorship & intellectual freedom: Hear from experts

Register for this year’s Barbara Ballinger Lecture, which will dive into intellectual freedom, book bans, and censorship. Hear from the experts now (in this Q&A about book bans and how to support the freedom to read) and join us in person or virtually for the panel discussion on Saturday, November 11, 1-2 pm.

Most challenged books in 2022

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? It contains LGBTQIA+ content and has been considered to have sexually explicit images.

Description: This autobiography by Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, 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 fan fiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.

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All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? It contains LGBTQIA+ content and profanity and has been considered to be sexually explicit.

Description: 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.

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The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? Morrison's well-known novel is considered sexually explicit and includes depictions of child sexual abuse.

Description: 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.

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Flamer by Mike Curato

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? It contains LGBTQIA+ content and has been considered to be sexually explicit.

Description: 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.

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Looking for Alaska by John Green

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? It contains LGBTQIA+ content and has been considered to be sexually explicit.

Description: 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.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? There is a depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, and profanity, and the content has been considered to be sexually explicit.

Description: A coming-of-age novel told in a series of letters to an unknown correspondent reveals the life of Charlie, a freshman in high school who is a wallflower, shy and introspective, and very intelligent. It's a story of what it's like to grow up in high school, tracing a course through uncharted territory in the world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends.

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? Mainly for its use of profanity and sexual references, but also because of the author's inappropriate behavior.

Description: 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.

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A Court of Mist & Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? This book has been considered to be sexually explicit.

Description: Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people. As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin.

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Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Why was it challenged, banned, and/or restricted? The content was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.

Description: On the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he's figured it out. His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg's mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg's entire life.

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