Banned
Recommended Reading
Forever…
– Blume, Judy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Awakening
– Kate Chopin
- First published in 1899, this novel so disturbed critics and the public that it was banished for decades afterward.
- Retained on the Northwestern Suburban High School District 214 reading list in Arlington Heights, IL along with eight other challenged titles in 2006. A board member, elected amid promises to bring her Christian beliefs into all board decision-making, raised the controversy based on excerpts from the books she'd found on the Internet.
The Test
– Kern, Peggy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Big Questions Book of Sex and Consent
– Freitas, Donna
- Banned in some US school districts.
Emergency Contact
– Choi, Mary H.K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
– Knisley, Lucy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Speak: The Graphic Novel
– Anderson, Laurie Halse
- Banned in some US school districts.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
– Green, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy
– Gottfred, B. T.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Violet and Daisy: The Story of Vaudeville’s Famous Conjoined Twins
– Miller, Sarah
- Banned in some US school districts.
L8r, G8r
– Myracle, Lauren
- Banned in some US school districts.
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource by and for Transgender Communities
– Erickson-Schroth, Laura
- Banned in some US school districts.
My Jim: A Novel
– Rawles, Nancy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Monstress
– Liu, Marjorie
- Banned in some US school districts.
50 Sculptures You Should Know
– Kühl, Isabel
- Banned in some US school districts.
Loving Frank
– Horan, Nancy
- Banned in some US school districts.
50 Paintings You Should Know
– Lowis, Kristina
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Boy Who Dared
– Campbell Bartoletti, Susan
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Year of the Flood
– Atwood, Margaret
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Gift for a Ghost
– González, Borja
- Banned in some US school districts.
Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’ Keefe
– Drohojowska-Philip, Hunter
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
– Reynolds, Jason
- Banned in some US school districts.
Firebug
– McBride, Lish
- Banned in some US school districts.
African Art: An Introduction
– Willett, Frank
- Banned in some US school districts.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Graphic Novel)
– Verne, Jules
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Remedy
– Young, Suzanne
- Banned in some US school districts.
People Kill People
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights
– Sanders, Rob
- Banned in some US school districts.
Left Out
– Green, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
Red at the Bone
– Woodson, Jacqueline
- Banned in some US school districts.
Peak
– Smith, Roland
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ulysses
– James Joyce
- Burned in the U.S. (1918), Ireland (1922), Canada (1922), England (1923) and banned in England (1929).
Fire Will Fall
– Plum-Ucci, Carol
- Banned in some US school districts.
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives
– Slater, Dashka
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America
– Oluo, Ijeoma
- Banned in some US school districts.
The History of the Blues
– Koopmans, Andy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dear Martin
– Stone, Nic
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Kingdom of Little Wounds
– Cokal, Susann
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Female of the Species
– McGinnis, Mindy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Jungle
– Upton Sinclair
- Banned from public libraries in Yugoslavia (1929). Burned in the Nazi bonfires because of Sinclair's socialist views (1933).
- Banned in East Germany (1956) as inimical to communism.
- Banned in South Korea (1985).
The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
– St. George, Judith
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Return of the King
– Tolkien, J.R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Art of Racing in the Rain
– Stein, Garth
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Pants Project
– Clarke, Cat
- Banned in some US school districts.
Smoke
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lawn Boy
– Evison, Jonathan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Embrace
– Shirvington, Jessica
- Banned in some US school districts.
Tilt
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Man Walks on the Moon
– Bodden, Valerie
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Human Body in Action
– Gallavotti, Barbara
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Carnival at Bray
– Foley, Jessie Ann
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rainbow Boys
– Sanchez, Alex
- Banned in some US school districts.
Choke
– Skye, Obert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
– Satrapi, Marjane
- Banned in some US school districts.
Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human (A Graphic Novel)
– Moen, Erika
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Mass Psychology of Fascism
– Wilhelm Reich
- The book-burning of all Wilhelm Reich's works took place between 1956 and 1960. It has been cited as the worst example of censorship in the United States. The Guardian called it "the only federally sanctioned book burning on American soil." Reich died in prison of heart failure just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.
Soul Eater, Vol. 3
– Ohkubo, Atsushi
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mixed: A Colorful Story
– Chung, Arree
- Banned in some US school districts.
Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again
– Miller, Frank
- Banned in some US school districts.
Date Me, Bryson Keller
– Van Whye, Kevin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Kingdom of the Wicked
– Edginton, Ian
- Banned in some US school districts.
Soul Eater, Vol. 5
– Ohkubo, Atsushi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fire
– Patterson, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
An Introduction to Oil Painting
– Smith, Ray
- Banned in some US school districts.
Doing It!: Let’s Talk About Sex
– Witton, Hannah
- Banned in some US school districts.
City of Heavenly Fire
– Clare, Cassandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bloodlust and Bonnets
– McGovern, Emily
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Annotated Mona Lisa, Third Edition: A Crash Court in Art History From Prehistoric to the Present (Volume 3)
– Strickland, Carol
- Banned in some US school districts.
The History of Art
– Hodge, A.N.
- Banned in some US school districts.
We Are Okay
– LaCour, Nina
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Gadgets
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Call Me Max
– Lukoff, Kyle
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dialogo Di Galileo Galilei Linceo Matematico Sopraordinario Dello Stvdio Di Pisa
– Galileo Galilei
Published: 1632
- In 1633, Galileo Galilei, was found "vehemently suspect of heresy" by the Catholic Church, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. St. John Paul II finally issued a declaration in 1992, recognizing the falibility of Church authorities and error of Galileo's trial.
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces
– Quintero, Isabel
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bodies Are Cool
– Feder, Tyler
- Banned in some US school districts.
Leonardo: Revised Edition
– Kemp, Martin
- Banned in some US school districts.
SP4RX
– McDonald, Wren
- Banned in some US school districts.
We Are Not Your Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide
– Anderson, Carol
- Banned in some US school districts.
1984
– George Orwell
- Challenged in the Jackson County, FL (1981) because Orwell's novel is "pro-communist and contained explicit sexual matter."
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel
– Atwood, Margaret
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dear Diary, I’m Pregnant: Teenagers Talk About Their Pregnancy
– Englander, Anrenee
- Banned in some US school districts.
Degas: The Dance Class
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gender Danger: Survivors of Rape, Human Trafficking, and Honor Killings
– Simons, Rae
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Good Earth (Graphic Adaptation)
– Buck, Pearl S.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fellowship of the Ring
– Tolkien, J.R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Glass
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
All the Bright Places
– Niven, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir in Pictures
– Stevenson, Noelle
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ambush
– Skye, Obert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Afterworlds
– Westerfeld, Scott
- Banned in some US school districts.
Water for Elephants
– Gruen, Sara
- Banned in some US school districts.
Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World
– Prager, Sarah
- Banned in some US school districts.
50 Women Artists You Should Know
– Weidemann, Christiane
- Banned in some US school districts.
Living Dead Girl
– Scott, Elizabeth
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Edge
– Smith, Roland
- Banned in some US school districts.
After
– Efaw, Amy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Hands Up!
– McDaniel, Breanna J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Altered Carbon: One Life, One Death
– Morgan, Richard K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
– Maguire, Gregory
- Banned in some US school districts.
To Kill a Mockingbird
– Lee, Harper
- Banned in some US school districts.
American Gods
– Gaiman, Neil
- Banned in some US school districts.
Me and White Supremacy
– Saad, Layla
- Banned in some US school districts.
Black Road: The Holy North
– Wood, Brian
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation
– Bornstein, Kate
- Banned in some US school districts.
Anansi Boys
– Gaiman, Neil
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bone Parish, Vol. 3
– Bunn, Cullen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Sexual Revolution
– Wilhelm Reich
- The book-burning of all Wilhelm Reich's works took place between 1956 and 1960. It has been cited as the worst example of censorship in the United States. The Guardian called it "the only federally sanctioned book burning on American soil." Reich died in prison of heart failure just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.
A Clockwork Orange
– Anthony Burgess
- In 1973 a bookseller in Orem, UT was arrested for selling the novel. Charges were later dropped, but the book seller was forced to close the store and relocate to another city.
- Removed from Aurora, CO high school (1976) due to "objectionable" language and from high school classrooms in Westport, MA (1977) because of "objectionable" language.
- Removed from two Anniston, AL High school libraries (1982), but later reinstated on a restricted basis.
Shadows on the Stars
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blues: A History of American Music
– Handyside, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Map to the Sun
– Leong, Sloane
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sons and Lovers
– D.H. Lawrence
- In 1961 an Oklahoma City group called Mothers United for Decency hired a trailer, dubbed it "smutmobile," and displayed books deemed objectionable, including Lawrence's novel.
The Handmaid’s Tale
– Atwood, Margaret
- Banned in some US school districts.
Chicken Girl
– Smith, Heather
- Banned in some US school districts.
Degas: Impressions of a Great Master
– Gruitrooy, Gerhard
- Banned in some US school districts.
And I Darken
– White, Kiersten
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Salvador Dali
– Goff, Robert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
– Zora Neale Hurston
- Challenged for sexual explicitness, but retained on the Stonewall Jackson High School's academically advanced reading list in Brentsville, VA (1997). A parent objected to the novel's language and sexual explicitness.
Fire Star
– D’Lacey, Chris
- Banned in some US school districts.
Girls Like Us (2015)
– Giles, Gail
- Banned in some US school districts.
Where I End and You Begin
– Norton, Preston
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Mark
– Nadol, Jen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lighter Than My Shadow
– Green, Katie
- Banned in some US school districts.
What Goes Around
– Millner, Denene
- Banned in some US school districts.
Guyaholic
– Mackler, Carolyn
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lady Midnight
– Clare, Cassandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
Daughters Unto Devils
– Lukavics, Amy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lost in Time
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Bible
– Unknown
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Chupacabra
– Flitcroft, Jean
- Banned in some US school districts.
Kid Lawyer
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Rational Explanation
– Youngblood, Tiffany
- Banned in some US school districts.
Original Fake
– Cronn-Mills, Kirstin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Normal People
– Rooney, Sally
- Banned in some US school districts.
My Riot
– Spears, Rick
- Banned in some US school districts.
Impulse
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 3
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Letter From the Birmingham Jail
– King Jr., Martin Luther
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Family Book
– Parr, Todd
- Banned in some US school districts.
Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven
– Liu, Marjorie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Joe Hill’s the Cape: 1969
– Ciaramella, Jason
- Banned in some US school districts.
Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics
– Moore, Alan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ordinary Hazards
– Grimes, Nikki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Code of Honor
– Gratz, Alan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Empire of Storms
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dear Justyce
– Stone, Nic
- Banned in some US school districts.
Parable of the Talents
– Butler, Octavia E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya
– Tanigawa, Nagaru
- Banned in some US school districts.
Novels for Students, Vol. 9: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Novels
– Stanley, Deborah A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium
– Nicolaus Copernicus
Published: 1543
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory. The book offered an alternative and more reasonable model of the universe to Ptolemy’s geocentric system, which had become widely accepted throughout Europe, and was incorporated into Catholic Church dogma. The Copernican model made use of the Urdi Lemma developed in the 13th century by the Arab astronomer Mu’ayyad al-Din al-‘Urdi, the first of the Maragha astronomers to develop a non-Ptolemaic model of planetary motion.
People gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon… This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us [Joshua 10:13] that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth.
Martin Luther
- Copernicus self-censored his book until after his death to avoid persecution and probable execution by the Catholic Church.
- In 1549, Melanchthon, Luther's principal lieutenant, wrote against Copernicus, pointing to the theory's apparent conflict with Scripture and advocating that "severe measures" be taken to restrain the impiety of Copernicans.
- The works of Copernicus and Zúñiga--the latter for asserting that De revolutionibus was compatible with Catholic faith--were placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of March 5, 1616. "This Holy Congregation has also learned about the spreading and acceptance by many of the false Pythagorean doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy Scripture, that the earth moves and the sun is motionless, which is also taught by Nicholaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium and by Diego de Zúñiga's In Job... Therefore, in order that this opinion may not creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the Congregation has decided that the books by Nicolaus Copernicus and Diego de Zúñiga be suspended until corrected."
- After "corrections" were formally approved in 1620 the reading of the book was permitted. But the book was never reprinted with the changes and was available in Catholic jurisdictions only to "suitably qualified" scholars, by special request.
- The book remained on the Catholic Index until 1758, when Pope Benedict XIV removed the uncorrected book from his revised Index.
Filmish: A Graphic Journey Through Film
– Ross, Edward
- Banned in some US school districts.
Hopeless
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lolita
– Vladimir Nabokov
- Banned as obscene in France (1956-1959), in England (1955-59), in Argentina (1959), and in New Zealand (1960). The South African Directorate of Publications announced on November 27, 1982, that Lolita has been taken off the banned list, eight years after a request for permission to market the novel in paperback had been refused.
- Challenged at the Marion-Levy Public Library System in Ocala, FL (2006). The Marion County commissioners voted to have the county attorney review the novel that addresses the themes of pedophilia and incest, to determine if it meets the state law’s definition of “unsuitable for minors.”
The Naked and the Dead
– Norman Mailer
- Banned in Canada (1949) and Australia (1949).
Spy X Family, Vol. 4
– Endo, Tatsuya
- Banned in some US school districts.
Batman: White Knight
– Murphy, Sean
- Banned in some US school districts.
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return
– Satrapi, Marjane
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fire Next Time
– Baldwin, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Spy X Family, Vol. 6
– Endo, Tatsuya
- Banned in some US school districts.
My Princess Boy
– Kilodavis, Cheryl
- Banned in some US school districts.
Art That Changed the World
– Chilvers, Ian
- Banned in some US school districts.
You Killed Wesley Payne
– Beaudoin, Sean
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sold
– McCormick, Patricia
- Banned in some US school districts.
We Are the Ants
– Hutchinson, Shaun David
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Daughters of Ys
– Anderson, M.T.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Crank
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eleanor & Park
– Rowell, Rainbow
- Banned in some US school districts.
I Never
– Hopper, Laura
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Vincent Van Gogh
– Schaffner, Ingrid
- Banned in some US school districts.
Cat’s Cradle
– Kurt Vonnegut
- The Strongsville, Ohio School Board (1972) voted to withdraw this title from the school library. This action was overturned in 1976 by a U.S. District Court in Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District, 541 F. 2d 577 (6th Cir. 1976)
- Challenged at Merrimack, NH High School (1982).
How It All Blew Up
– Ahmadi, Arvin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Spy X Family, Vol. 1
– Endo, Tatsuya
- Banned in some US school districts.
Never Let Me Go
– Ishiguro, Kazuo
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Seven Songs of Merlin
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gone With the Wind
– Margaret Mitchell
- Banned from Anaheim, CA Union High School District English classrooms (1978).
- Challenged in Waukegan, IL School District (1984) because the novel uses the 'N' word.
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
– Rennison, Louise
- Banned in some US school districts.
Moxie
– Mathieu, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Forbidden
– Suzuma, Tabitha
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Stranger: The Graphic Novel
– Camus, Albert
- Banned in some US school districts.
What We Saw
– Hartzler, Aaron
- Banned in some US school districts.
It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health
– Harris, Robie H.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Call of the Wild
– Jack London
- Banned in Italy (1929), Yugoslavia (1929), and burned in Nazi bonfires (1933).
Darius the Great Deserves Better
– Khorram, Adib
- Banned in some US school districts.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
– Taylor, Laini
- Banned in some US school districts.
Woman World
– Dhaliwal, Aminder
- Banned in some US school districts.
Drama: A Graphic Novel
– Telgemeier, Raina
- Banned in some US school districts.
Tar Baby
– Morrison, Toni
- Banned in some US school districts.
Coyotes, Vol. 1
– Lewis, Sean
- Banned in some US school districts.
Maybe Not
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
In Our Mothers’ House
– Polacco, Patricia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rat Queens, Vol. 3: Demons
– Wiebe, Kurtis J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Van Alen Legacy
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fade
– McMann, Lisa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 5
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Push
– Sapphire
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Baby Doesn’t Make the Man: Alternative Sources of Power and Manhood for Young Men
– Jamiolkowski, Raymond
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Black Monday Murders
– Hickman, Jonathan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 6
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Melissa (George)
– Gino, Alex
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
– José Saramago
Published: 1991
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (original title: O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo, 1991) is a fictional re-telling of Jesus Christ’s life, depicting him as a flawed, humanised character with passions and doubts. The novel proved controversial, especially to representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano accusing Saramago of having a “substantially anti-religious vision”, while being praised by other critics as a “deeply philosophical, provocative and compelling work.
- In 1992 the book's entry in the Aristeion European Literary Prize was blocked by the Portuguese Under Secretary of State for Culture due to pressures from the Catholic Church.
My Last Summer With Cass
– Crilley, Mark
- Banned in some US school districts.
Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d
– Losure, Mary
- Banned in some US school districts.
Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voice
– Cronn-Mills, Kirstin
- Banned in some US school districts.
War Storm
– Aveyard, Victoria
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Court of Mist and Fury
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
An American Tragedy
– Theodore Dreiser
- Banned in Boston, MA (1927).
- Burned by the Nazis in Germany (1933) because it "deals with low love affairs."
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
– Gaiman, Neil
- Banned in some US school districts.
Home Body
– Kaur, Rupi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Sacrifice of Darkness
– Gay, Roxane
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fangirl
– Rowell, Rainbow
- Banned in some US school districts.
Grl2grl
– Peters, Julie Anne
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery
– Wiebe, Kurtis J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Epileptic
– B., David
- Banned in some US school districts.
Alt Ed
– Atkins, Catherine
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Deadliest Diseases Then and Now
– Hopkinson, Deborah
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation
– Hennessey, Jonathan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo: Ultimate Collection - Book One (Fantastic Four 1998-2012)
– Waid, Mark
- Banned in some US school districts.
Satanic Verses
– Salman Rushdie
- Although nothing in the Qur'an or the Bible explicitly imposes censorship, it has been carried out under both Islamic and Christian theocracies.
- Banned in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Quatar, Indonesia, South Africa, and India because of its criticism of Islam.
- Burned in West Yorkshire, England (1989) and temporarily withdrawn from two bookstores on the advice of police who took threats to staff and property seriously.
- In Pakistan five people died in riots against the book. Another man died a day later in Kashmir.
- Ayatollah Khomeni issued a fatwa or religious edict, stating, "I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses, which is against Islam, the prophet, and the Koran, and all those involved in its publication who were aware of its content, have been sentenced to death."
- Challenged at the Wichita, KS Public Library (1989) because the book is "blasphemous to the prophet Mohammed."
- In Venezuela, owning or reading it was declared a crime under penalty of 15 months' imprisonment.
- In Japan, the sale of the English-language edition was banned under the threat of fines.
- The governments of Bulgaria and Poland restricted its distribution.
- In 1991, in separate incidents, Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator, was stabbed to death and its Italian translator, Ettore Capriolo, was seriously wounded.
- In 1993 William Nygaard, its Norwegian publisher, was shot and seriously injured.
Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present
– Willis, Deborah
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Court of Wings and Ruin
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta De Antonio
– González, Rigoberto
- Banned in some US school districts.
They Both Die at the End
– Silvera, Adam
- Banned in some US school districts.
Song of Solomon
– Toni Morrison Song of Solomon
- Challenged, but retained, in the Columbus, OH schools (1993). The complainant believed that the book contains language degrading to blacks, and is sexually explicit.
- Removed from required reading lists and library shelves in the Richmond County, GA. School District (1994) after a parent complained that passages from the book are "filthy and inappropriate."
- Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine, FL (1995).
- Removed from the St. Mary's County, MD schools' approved text list (1998) by the superintendent, overruling a faculty committee recommendation. Complainants referred to the novel as "filth," "trash," and "repulsive."
- Reinstated in the Shelby, MI school Advanced Placement English curriculum (2009), but parents are to be informed in writing and at a meeting about the book’s content. Students not wanting to read the book can choose an alternative without academic penalty. The superintendent had suspended the book from the curriculum.
Soul Eater, Vol. 2
– Ohkubo, Atsushi
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Clash of Kings
– Martin, George R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
History of Western Art in Comics Part One: From Prehistory to the Renaissance
– Augustin, Marion
- Banned in some US school districts.
Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe
– Pomplun, Tom
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
– Ryan, Carrie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Asking for It
– O’Neill, Louise
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 1
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Lesson in Vengeance
– Lee, Victoria
- Banned in some US school districts.
As I Descended
– Talley, Robin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 8
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Heartstopper, Vol. 4
– Oseman, Alice
- Banned in some US school districts.
Queen of Air and Darkness
– Clare, Cassandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Life and Art of Paul Gauguin
– Roddam, George
- Banned in some US school districts.
Boy Girl Boy
– Koertge, Ron
- Banned in some US school districts.
Private Label
– Yang, Kelly
- Banned in some US school districts.
City of Light, City of Dark
– Avi
- Banned in some US school districts.
Cool for the Summer
– Adler, Dahlia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Broken Beautiful Hearts
– Garcia, Kami
- Banned in some US school districts.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
– Sáenz, Benjamin Alire
- Banned in some US school districts.
King of King Court
– Dandro, Travis
- Banned in some US school districts.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
– Andrews, Jesse
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fallout
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda
– Stassen, Jean-Philippe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Catch-22
– Joseph Heller
- Banned in Strongsville, OH (1972), but the school board's action was overturned in 1976 by a U.S. District Court in Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District.
- Challenged at the Dallas, TX Independent School District high school libraries (1974); in Snoqualmie, WA (1979) because of its several references to women as "whores."
Master Keaton, Vol. 7
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Haters
– Andrews, Jesse
- Banned in some US school districts.
And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK
– Gates, Henry L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rick
– Gino, Alex
- Banned in some US school districts.
Irving Penn: A Career in Photography
– Westerbeck, Colin
- Banned in some US school districts.
De L’homme, De Ses Facultés Intellectuelles Et De Son Education.
– Helvétius
Published: 1773
Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
– Armentrout, Jennifer L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bleach, Vol. 21
– Kubo, Tite
- Banned in some US school districts.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
– Sánchez, Erika L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century
– Bascomb, Neal
- Banned in some US school districts.
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness
– Radtke, Kristen
- Banned in some US school districts.
One of Us Is Next
– McManus, Karen M.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Love Lies Beneath
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Hobbit
– Tolkien, J.R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stained
– Jacobson, Jennifer Richard
- Banned in some US school districts.
Spy X Family, Vol. 3
– Endo, Tatsuya
- Banned in some US school districts.
What Riley Wore
– Arnold, Elana K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sirens
– Schulte, Mary
- Banned in some US school districts.
Himawari House
– Becker, Harmony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything
– Lockhart, E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Spy X Family, Vol. 5
– Endo, Tatsuya
- Banned in some US school districts.
Chagall: The Falling Angel
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Super Sisters
– Cazenove, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eyes of the Forest
– Henry, April
- Banned in some US school districts.
Skin
– Vrettos, Adrienne Maria
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Upside of Unrequited
– Albertalli, Becky
- Banned in some US school districts.
Two Boys Kissing
– Levithan, David
- Banned in some US school districts.
Anne of Avonlea
– Montgomery, L. M.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Abduction
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
The League of Super Feminists
– Malle, Mirion
- Banned in some US school districts.
The 1619 Project : Born on the Water
– Hannah-Jones, Nikole
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blankets
– Thompson, Craig
- Banned in some US school districts.
Feynman
– Ottaviani, Jim
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection
– Krause, Fran
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
– Spiegelman, Art
- Banned in some US school districts.
All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages
– Mitchell, Saundra
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Golden Sheep 1
– Ozaki, Kaori
- Banned in some US school districts.
How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual
– Burgess, Rebecca
- Banned in some US school districts.
Clockwork Princess
– Clare, Cassandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
This One Summer
– Tamaki, Mariko
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Kiss
– Patterson, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Heartstopper, Vol. 1
– Oseman, Alice
- Banned in some US school districts.
Tropic of Cancer
– Henry Miller
- Banned from U.S. Customs (1934). The U.S. Supreme Court found the novel not obscene (1964).
- Banned in Turkey (1986).
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
– Butler, Octavia E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun
– Woodson, Jacqueline
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sophie’s Choice
– William Styron
- Banned in South Africa in 1979.
- Returned to La Mirada High School library (CA) in 2002 after a complaint about its sexual content prompted the school to pull the award-winning novel about a tormented Holocaust survivor.
The Nowhere Girls
– Reed, Amy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Matisse: LA Danse
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blue Bloods: After Life
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks
– Hill, Joe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Character Analysis
– Wilhelm Reich
- The book-burning of all Wilhelm Reich's works took place between 1956 and 1960. It has been cited as the worst example of censorship in the United States. The Guardian called it "the only federally sanctioned book burning on American soil." Reich died in prison of heart failure just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.
The Dark and Hollow Places
– Ryan, Carrie
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh
– Fleming, Candace
- Banned in some US school districts.
Holocaust Rescue and Liberation
– Blohm, Craig E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Before We Were Free
– Alvarez, Julia
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Teenage Guy’s Survival Guide: The Real Deal on Going Out, Growing Up, and Other Guy Stuff
– Daldry, Jeremy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Home After Dark
– Small, David
- Banned in some US school districts.
Queen of the Sea
– Meconis, Dylan
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Grapes of Wrath
– John Steinbeck
- Burned by the East St. Louis, IL Public Library (1939) and barred from the Buffalo, NY Public Library (1939) on the grounds that "vulgar words" were used.
- Banned in Kansas City, MO (1939).
- Banned in Kern County CA, the scene of Steinbeck's novel (1939).
- Banned in Ireland (1953).
- On Feb. 21, 1973, eleven Turkish book publishers went on trial before an Istanbul martial law tribunal on charges of publishing, possessing and selling books in violation of an order of the Istanbul martial law command. They faced possible sentences of between one month's and six months' imprisonment "for spreading propaganda unfavorable to the state" and the confiscation of their books. Eight booksellers were also on trial with the publishers on the same charge involving The Grapes of Wrath.
- Banned in Kanawha, IA High School classes (1980).
- Challenged in Vernon Verona Sherill, NY School District (1980).
- Challenged as required reading for Richford, VT (1981) High School English students due to the book's language and portrayal of a former minister who recounts how he took advantag of a young woman.
- Banned in Morris, Manitoba, Canada (1982).
- Removed from two Anniston, Ala. high school libraries (1982), but later reinstated on a restrictive basis.
- Challenged at the Cummings High School in Burlington, NC (1986) as an optional reading assignment because the "book is full of filth. "My son is being raised in a Christian home and this book takes the Lord's name in vain and has all kinds of profanity in it." Although the parent spoke to the press, a formal complaint with the school demanding the book's removal was not filed.
- Challenged at the Moore County school system in Carthage, NC (1986) because the book contains the phase "God damn."
- Challenged in the Greenville, SC schools (1991) because the book uses the name of God and Jesus in a "vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references."
- Challenged in the Union City, TN High School (1993).
The City We Became: A Novel
– Jemisin, N. K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gender Identity (Teen Mental Health)
– Petrikowski, Nicki Peter
- Banned in some US school districts.
Illegal
– Colfer, Eoin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Zoonomia; Or, the Laws of Organic
– Erasmus Darwin
Published: life…1794-1796
Teenage Sex and Pregnancy
– Parks, Peggy J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Carnival at Bray
– Foley, Jessie Ann
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 9
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
– Kirkman, Robert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bird Box
– Malerman, Josh
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lexicon
– Barry, Max
- Banned in some US school districts.
Zombies Don’t Cry
– Fischer, Rusty
- Banned in some US school districts.
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Boy
– Acho, Emmanuel
- Banned in some US school districts.
Homecoming
– Charlton-Trujillo, E. E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Too Bright to See
– Lukoff, Kyle
- Banned in some US school districts.
Jacob’s New Dress
– Hoffman, Sarah
- Banned in some US school districts.
What Girls Are Made Of
– Arnold, Elana K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Finding Cinderella
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Catcher in the Rye
– JD Salinger
- Since its publication, this title has been a favorite target of censors. In 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, OK was fired for assigning the book to an eleventh grade English class. The teacher appealed and was reinstated by the school board, but the book was removed from use in the school. In 1963, a delegation of parents of high school students in Columbus, OH, asked the school board to ban the novel for being "anti-white" and "obscene." The school board refused the request.
- Removed from the Selinsgrove, PA suggested reading list (1975). Based on parents' objections to the language and content of the book, the school board voted 5-4 to ban the book. The book was later reinstated in the curriculum when the board learned that the vote was illegal because they needed a two-thirds vote for removal of the text.
- Challenged as an assignment in an American literature class in Pittsgrove, NJ (1977). After months of controversy, the board ruled that the novel could be read in the Advanced Placement class, but they gave parents the right to decide whether or not their children would read it.
- Removed from the Issaquah, WA optional High School reading list (1978).
- Removed from the required reading list in Middleville, MI (1979).
- Removed from the Jackson Milton school libraries in North Jackson, OH (1980).
- Removed from two Anniston, AL High school libraries (1982), but later reinstated on a restrictive basis.
- Removed from the school libraries in Morris, Manitoba (1982) along with two other books because they violate the committee's guidelines covering "excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult."
- Challenged at the Libby, MT High School (1983) due to the "book's contents."
- Banned from English classes at the Freeport High School in De Funiak Springs, FL (1985) because it is "unacceptable" and "obscene."
- Removed from the required reading list of a Medicine Bow, WY Senior High School English class (1986) because of sexual references and profanity in the book.
- Banned from a required sophomore English reading list at the Napoleon, ND High School (1987) after parents and the local Knights of Columbus chapter complained about its profanity and sexual references.
- Challenged at the Linton-Stockton, IN High School (1988) because the book is "blasphemous and undermines morality."
- Banned from the classrooms in Boron, CA High School (1989) because the book contains profanity.
- Challenged at the Grayslake, IL Community High School (1991).
- Challenged at the Jamaica High School in Sidell, IL (1992) because the book contains profanities and depicts premarital sex, alcohol abuse, and prostitution.
- Challenged in the Waterloo, IA schools (1992) and Duval County, FL public school libraries (1992) because of profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.
- Challenged at the Cumberland Valley High School in Carlisle, PA (1992) because of a parent's objections that it contains profanity and is immoral.
- Challenged, but retained, at the New Richmond, WI High School (1994) for use in some English classes.
- Challenged as required reading in the Corona Norco, CA Unified School District (1993) because it is "centered around negative activity." The book was retained and teachers selected alternatives if students object to Salinger's novel.
- Challenged as mandatory reading in the Goffstown, NH schools (1994) because of the vulgar words used and the sexual exploits experienced in the book.
- Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine, FL (1995).
- Challenged at the Oxford Hills High School in Paris, ME (1996). A parent objected to the use of the 'F' word.
- Challenged, but retained, at the Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick, GA (1997). A student objected to the novel's profanity and sexual references.
- Removed because of profanity and sexual situations from the required reading curriculum of the Marysville, CA Joint Unified School District (1997). The school superintendent removed it to get it "out of the way so that we didn't have that polarization over a book."
- Challenged, but retained on the shelves of Limestone County, AL school district (2000) despite objections about the book's foul language.
- Banned, but later reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah, GA (2000). The controversy began in early 1999 when a parent complained about sex, violence, and profanity in the book that was part of an Advanced Placement English class.
- Removed by a Dorchester District 2 school board member in Summerville, SC (2001) because it "is a filthy, filthy book."
- Challenged by a Glynn County, GA (2001) school board member because of profanity. The novel was retained.
- Challenged in the Big Sky High School in Missoula, MT (2009).
The Gift
– Patterson, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ttfn
– Myracle, Lauren
- Banned in some US school districts.
Heartstopper, Vol. 3
– Oseman, Alice
- Banned in some US school districts.
Jesus Land: A Memoir
– Scheeres, Julia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lessons From a Dead Girl
– Knowles, Jo
- Banned in some US school districts.
Native Son
– Richard Wright
- Challenged in Goffstown, NH (1978); Elmwood Park, NJ (1978) due to "objectionable" language; and North Adams, MA (1981) due to the book's "violence, sex, and profanity."
- Challenged at the Berrian Springs, MI High School in classrooms and libraries (1988) because the novel is "vulgar, profane, and sexually explicit."
- Retained in the Yakima, WA schools (1994) after a five-month dispute over what advanced high school students should read in the classroom. Two parents raised concerns about profanity and images of violence and sexuality in the book and requested that it be removed from the reading list. Challenged as part of the reading list for Advanced Placement English classes at Northwest High School in High Point, NC (1996). The book was challenged because it is "sexually graphic and violent."
- Removed from Irvington High School in Fremont, CA (1998) after a few parents complained the book was unnecessarily violent and sexually explicit.
- Challenged in the Hamilton High School curriculum in Fort Wayne, IN (1998) because of the novel's graphic language and sexual content.
Watcher in the Woods: A Rockton Novel
– Armstrong, Kelley
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Dirt on Mr. Claxton
– Youngblood, Tiffany
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Towering Sky
– McGee, Katharine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fred Gets Dressed
– Brown, Peter
- Banned in some US school districts.
Women
– Leibovitz, Annie
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Game of Thrones
– Martin, George R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ramona Blue
– Murphy, Julie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rogue Wave
– Donnelly, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Court of Lions
– Daud, Somaiya
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People Illustrated
– Hoddinott, Brenda
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Walking Dead: A Continuing Story of Survival Horror, Book 4
– Etler, Cyndy Drew
- Banned in some US school districts.
GLBTQ*: The Survival Guide for Queer & Questioning Teens
– Huegel, Kelly
- Banned in some US school districts.
Shadowsong
– Jae-Jones, S.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Camelot Betrayal
– White, Kiersten
- Banned in some US school districts.
Foul Is Fair
– Capin, Hannah
- Banned in some US school districts.
Unravel Me
– Mafi, Tahereh
- Banned in some US school districts.
Kiss Number 8
– Venable, Colleen A. F.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Merlin’s Dragon
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Breathless
– Niven, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Macbeth: The Graphic Novel
– Hinds, Gareth
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sloppy Firsts
– McCafferty, Megan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Edward Hopper: A Modern Master
– Berkow, Ita G.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rat Queens, Vol. 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N’Rygoth
– Wiebe, Kurtis J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The History of Western Sculpture
– Osier, Peter
- Banned in some US school districts.
The River
– Paulsen, Gary
- Banned in some US school districts.
Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington
– Houtman, Jacqueline
- Banned in some US school districts.
The You I’ve Never Known
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gilgamesh: A Graphic Novel
– Winegarner, Andrew
- Banned in some US school districts.
Defy the Night
– Kemmerer, Brigid
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Court of Frost and Starlight
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Reluctantly Alice
– Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Event
– Lemire, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fable
– Young, Adrienne
- Banned in some US school districts.
Munch: The Scream
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Immortalists
– Benjamin, Chloe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ash
– Lo, Malinda
- Banned in some US school districts.
As I Lay Dying
– William Faulkner
- Banned in the Graves County School District in Mayfield, KY (1986) because it contains "offensive and obscene passages referring to abortion and used God's name in vain." The decision was reversed a week later after intense pressure from the ACLU and considerable negative publicity.
- Challenged as a required reading assignment in an advanced English class of Pulaski County High School in Somerset, KY (1987) because the book contains "profanity and a segment about masturbation."
- Challenged, but retained, in the Carroll County, MD schools (1991). Two school board members were concerned about the book's coarse language and dialect.
- Banned at Central High School in Louisville, KY (1994) temporarily because the book uses profanity and questions the existence of God.
Masquerade
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Red Hood
– Arnold, Elana K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Brave New World
– Aldous Huxley
- Banned in Ireland (1932).
- Removed from classrooms in Miller, MO (1980), because it makes promiscuous sex "look like fun."Challenged frequently throughout the U.S.as required reading.
- Challenged as required reading at the Yukon, OK High School (1988) because of "the book's language and moral content."
- Challenged as required reading in the Corona-Norco, CA Unified School District (1993) because it is "centered around negative activity." Specifically, parents objected that the characters' sexual behavior directly opposed the health curriculum, which taught sexual abstinence until marriage. The book was retained, and teachers selected alternatives if students object to Huxley's novel.
- Removed from the Foley, AL High School Library (2000) pending review, because a parent complained that its characters showed contempt for religion, marriage, and family. The parent complained to the school and to Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.
- Challenged, but retained in the South Texas Independent School District in Mercedes, TX (2003). Parents objected to the adult themes—sexuality, drugs, suicide—that appeared in the novel. Huxley's book was part of the summer Science Academy curriculum. The board voted to give parents more control over their children's choices by requiring principals to automatically offer an alternative to a challenged book.
- Retained in the Coeur D’Alene, ID School District (2008) despite objections that the book has too many references to sex and drug use.
Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place
– Bird, Jackson
- Banned in some US school districts.
Annihilation
– VanderMeer, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
Witch and Wizard
– Patterson, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
– Foer, Jonathan Safran
- Banned in some US school districts.
Life Is Funny
– Frank, E. R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Traffick
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
– Alexie, Sherman
- Banned in some US school districts.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet: The Manga Edition
– Shakespeare, William
- Banned in some US school districts.
Giant Days
– Allison, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
– Twiss, Jill
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Accomplice
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Myths, Legends and Sacred Stories: A Visual Encyclopedia
– Wilkinson, Philip
- Banned in some US school districts.
Adventures of a Kid Magician
– Flom, Justin
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Devil’s Intern
– Hosie, Donna
- Banned in some US school districts.
Birthday
– Russo, Meredith
- Banned in some US school districts.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
– Lo, Malinda
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Misfits
– Howe, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
– Williams, Marcia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Teens and LGBT Issues
– Wilcox, Christine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Infinity Son
– Silvera, Adam
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love and Truth
– Hudson, Wade
- Banned in some US school districts.
Pet
– Emezi, Akwaeke
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bumped
– McCafferty, Megan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
– D.H. Lawrence
- Banned by U.S. Customs (1929).
- Banned in Ireland (1932), Poland (1932), Australia (1959), Japan (1959), India (1959).
- Banned in Canada (1960 to 1962.
- Dissemination stopped in China (1987) because the book “will corrupt the minds of young people and is also against the Chinese tradition.”
They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
– Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
- Banned in some US school districts.
Point Blank
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stolen
– Christopher, Lucy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Revelations
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Crime and Punishment: The Graphic Novel
– Tezuka, Osamu
- Banned in some US school districts.
Deadly Class
– Remender, Rick
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights
– Zuffi, Stefano
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Truth About Alice: A Novel
– Mathieu, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ready or Not
– Cabot, Meg
- Banned in some US school districts.
Scars
– Rainfield, Cheryl
- Banned in some US school districts.
Democracy
– Papadatos, Alecos
- Banned in some US school districts.
Aleutian Sparrow
– Hesse, Karen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Striving for Equality: LGBTQ Athletes Claim the Field
– Cronn-Mills, Kirstin
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Bluest Eye
– Morrison, Toni
- Banned in some US school districts.
10,000 Dresses
– Ewert, Marcus
- Banned in some US school districts.
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope
– Patterson, Jodie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blue Bloods
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
King and the Dragonflies
– Callender, Kacen
- Banned in some US school districts.
What to Do When I’m Gone: A Mother’s Wisdom to Her Daughter
– Hopkins, Suzy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Grimm Legacy
– Shulman, Polly
- Banned in some US school districts.
Breakfast of Champions
– Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Hieronymus Bosch
– Campbell, W. John
- Banned in some US school districts.
How to Read Italian Renaissance Painting
– Zuffi, Stefano
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ace of Spades
– Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Great American Whatever
– Federle, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
– Albertalli, Becky
- Banned in some US school districts.
Black Is a Rainbow Color
– Joy, Angela
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Death of Bees
– O’Donnell, Lisa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Renoir: Moulin De La Galette
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Damsel
– Arnold, Elana K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gracefully Grayson
– Polonsky, Ami
- Banned in some US school districts.
Girl Talk: The Ultimate Body & Puberty Book for Girls
– Editors of Cider Mill Press
- Banned in some US school districts.
Cezanne: Mont Sainte Victoire
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Last Man: The Royal Cup
– Vivès, Bastien
- Banned in some US school districts.
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
– Han, Jenny
- Banned in some US school districts.
De Sanitate Tuenda Libri Sex
– Leonhart Fuchs
Published: 1541
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
– Kuklin, Susan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Authority
– VanderMeer, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
Beloved
– Morrison, Toni
- Banned in some US school districts.
Salt to the Sea
– Sepetys, Ruta
- Banned in some US school districts.
Soupy Leaves Home
– Castellucci, Cecil
- Banned in some US school districts.
Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood
– Liu, Marjorie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Doomraga’s Revenge
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Art of Comics
– Kallen, Stuart A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Inheritance
– Paolini, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
Spinning
– Walden, Tillie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Coyotes, Vol. 2
– Lewis, Sean
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Treatment
– Young, Suzanne
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rumble
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Lost Years of Merlin
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The God of Small Things
– Roy, Arundhati
- Banned in some US school districts.
Scorpia
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
New Kid
– Craft, Jerry
- Banned in some US school districts.
Speak
– Anderson, Laurie Halse
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Lord of the Flies
– William Golding
- Challenged at the Dallas, TX Independent School District high school libraries (1974).
- Challenged at the Sully Buttes, SD High School (1981).
- Challenged at the Owen, NC High School (1981) because the book is "demoralizing inasmuch as it implies that man is little more than an animal."
- Challenged at the Marana, AZ High School (1983) as an inappropriate reading assignment.
- Challenged at the Olney, TX Independent School District (1984) because of "excessive violence and bad language." A committee of the Toronto, Canada Board of Education ruled on June 23, 1988, that the novel is "racist and recommended that it be removed from all schools." Parents and members of the black community complained about a derogatory reference in the book and said it denigrates blacks.
- Challenged in the Waterloo, IA schools (1992) because of profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women and the disabled.
- Challenged, but retained on the ninth-grade accelerated English reading list in Bloomfield, NY (2000).
Wintergirls
– Anderson, Laurie Halse
- Banned in some US school districts.
X-Men: Age of X
– Carey, Mike
- Banned in some US school districts.
Slaughterhouse-Five: The Graphic Novel
– Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
- Banned in some US school districts.
Friends Forever
– Hale, Shannon
- Banned in some US school districts.
The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend
– Keplinger, Kody
- Banned in some US school districts.
Invisible Man
– Ralph Ellison
- Excerpts banned in Butler, PA (1975).
- Removed from the high school English reading list in St. Francis, WI (1975).
- Retained in the Yakima, WA schools (1994) after a five-month dispute over what advanced high school students should read in the classroom. Two parents raised concerns about profanity and images of violence and sexuality in the book and requested that it be removed from the reading list.
Timescape
– Liparulo, Robert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Anatomy of a Single Girl
– Snadowsky, Daria
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Lovely Bones
– Sebold, Alice
- Banned in some US school districts.
We’ll Always Have Summer
– Han, Jenny
- Banned in some US school districts.
Is He a Girl?
– Sachar, Louis
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ask the Passengers
– King, A. S.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Scenic Art for the Theatre: History, Tools and Techniques
– Crabtree, Susan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blade of the Immortal Omnibus, Vol. 3
– Samura, Hiroaki
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Grief Keeper
– Villasante, Alexandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing Manga: Illustrated
– Layman, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Pierce Brown’s Red Rising: Sons of Ares - An Original Graphic Novel
– Brown, Pierce
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Accused
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
We March
– Evans, Shane W.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Pablo: Art Masters Series
– Birmant, Julie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Holocaust Camps and Killing Centers
– Blohm, Craig E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dreaming in Cuban
– García, Cristina
- Banned in some US school districts.
Nineteen Minutes
– Picoult, Jodi
- Banned in some US school districts.
Black Butler, Vol. 29
– Toboso, Yana
- Banned in some US school districts.
Even if I Fall
– Johnson, Abigail
- Banned in some US school districts.
Penultimate Quest
– Brown, Lars
- Banned in some US school districts.
Babylonian Mythology
– Nardo, Don
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You
– Reynolds, Jason
- Banned in some US school districts.
1984: The Graphic Novel
– Orwell, George
- Banned in some US school districts.
Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe
– Norton, Preston
- Banned in some US school districts.
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening
– Liu, Marjorie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Leonardo and the Last Supper
– King, Ross
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Johannes Vermeer
– Sweet, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir
– Bui, Thi
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stella Brings the Family
– Schiffer, Miriam B.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Flawed
– Dorfman, Andrea
- Banned in some US school districts.
Walk Two Moons
– Creech, Sharon
- Banned in some US school districts.
Falling Over Sideways
– Sonnenblick, Jordan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
– Abbott, Karen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Strange the Dreamer
– Taylor, Laini
- Banned in some US school districts.
Tricks
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Glitter
– Daniels, Babygirl
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dead and the Dark
– Gould, Courtney
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Activist
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lily and Dunkin
– Gephart, Donna
- Banned in some US school districts.
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
– Jacob, Mira
- Banned in some US school districts.
Space Battle Lunchtime, Vol. 2: A Recipe for Disaster
– Riess, Natalie
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Beauty of Darkness
– Pearson, Mary E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Thirteen Reasons Why
– Asher, Jay
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1
– Martin, George R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Country of Ice Cream Star
– Newman, Sandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
Now That We’re Men: A Play and True Life Accounts of Boys, Sex & Power
– Capiello, Katie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Go Tell It on the Mountain
– James Baldwin
- Challenged as required reading in the Hudson Falls, NY schools (1994) because the book has recurring themes of rape, masturbation, violence, and degrading treatment of women.
- Challenged as a ninth-grade summer reading option in Prince William County, VA (1988) because the book is "rife with profanity and explicit sex."
Prey
– Crichton, Michael
- Banned in some US school districts.
Grit
– French, Gillian
- Banned in some US school districts.
It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity
– Thorn, Theresa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sex Plus: Learning, Loving, and Enjoying Your Body
– Green, Laci
- Banned in some US school districts.
Great Masterpieces of the World
– Korn, Irene
- Banned in some US school districts.
Monstress, Vol. 4: The Chosen
– Liu, Marjorie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Why Comics?: From Underground to Everywhere
– Chute, Hillary L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Toulouse-Lautrec: At the Moulin Rouge
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Murder Complex
– Cummings, Lindsay
- Banned in some US school districts.
Pox, Pus and Plague
– Townsend, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Girl in Pieces
– Glasgow, Kathleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Killing Mr. Griffin
– Duncan, Lois
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Tale of a Body Thief
– Rice, Anne
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dicey’s Song
– Voigt, Cynthia
- Banned in some US school districts.
M.L.K.: Journey of a King
– Bolden, Tonya
- Banned in some US school districts.
Naked Lunch
– William S. Burroughs
- Found obscene in Boston, MA Superior Court (1965). The finding was reversed by the State Supreme Court the following year.
Black Magick: Awakening
– Rucka, Greg
- Banned in some US school districts.
Art: A World History
– Buchholz, Elke Linda
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry
– Carlson, David L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eragon
– Paolini, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
American Gods, Vol. 1: Shadows
– Gaiman, Neil
- Banned in some US school districts.
Watchmen
– Moore, Alan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook: Somatic Skills to Help You Feel Safe in Your Body, Create Boundaries, and Live With Resilience
– Shershun, Erika
- Banned in some US school districts.
Antiracist Baby
– Kendi, Ibram X.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Out of Darkness
– Pérez, Ashley Hope
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stormbreaker
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Light It Up
– Magoon, Kekla
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ana on the Edge
– Sass, A. J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
To Kill a Mockingbird
– Harper Lee
- Challenged in Eden Valley, MN (1977) and temporarily banned due to words "damn" and "whore lady" used in the novel.
- Challenged in the Vernon Verona Sherill, NY School District (1980) as a "filthy, trashy novel."
- Challenged at the Warren, IN Township schools (1981) because the book does "psychological damage to the positive integration process" and "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature." After unsuccessfully trying to ban Lee's novel, three black parents resigned from the township human relations advisory council.
- Challenged in the Waukegan, IL School District (1984) because the novel uses the 'N' word.
- Challenged in the Kansas City, MO junior high schools (1985).
- Challenged at the Park Hill, MO Junior High School (1985) because the novel "contains profanity and racial slurs."
- Retained on a supplemental eighth grade reading list in the Casa Grande, AZ Elementary School District (1985), despite the protests by black parents and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who charged the book was unfit for junior high use.
- Challenged at the Santa Cruz, CA Schools (1995) because of its racial themes.
- Removed from the Southwood High School Library in Caddo Parish, LA (1995) because the book's language and content were objectionable. Challenged at the Moss Point, MS School District (1996) because the novel contains a racial epithet.
- Banned from the Lindale, TX advanced placement English reading list (1996) because the book "conflicted with the values of the community."
- Challenged by a Glynn County, GA (2001) School Board member because of profanity. The novel was retained. Returned to the freshman reading list at Muskogee, OK High School (2001) despite complaints over the years from black students and parents about racial slurs in the text.
- Challenged in the Normal, IL Community High School's sophomore literature class (2003) as being degrading to African Americans.
- Challenged at the Stanford Middle School in Durham, NC (2004) because the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel uses the 'N' word.
- Challenged at the Brentwood, TN Middle School (2006) because the book contains “profanity” and “contains adult themes such as sexual intercourse, rape, and incest.” The complainants also contend that the book’s use of racial slurs promotes “racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy.”
- Retained in the English curriculum by the Cherry Hill, NJ Board of Education (2007). A resident had objected to the novel’s depiction of how blacks are treated by members of a racist white community in an Alabama town during the Depression. The resident feared the book would upset black children reading it.
- Removed (2009) from the St. Edmund Campion Secondary School classrooms in Brampton Ontario, Canada because a parent objected to language used in the novel, including the 'N' word.
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
– Murphy, Jim
- Banned in some US school districts.
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress
– Baldacchino, Christine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Beartown
– Backman, Fredrik
- Banned in some US school districts.
Those That Wake
– Karp, Jesse
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Separate Peace
– John Knowles
- Challenged in Vernon-Verona-Sherill, NY School District (1980) as a "filthy, trashy sex novel."
- Challenged at the Fannett-Metal High School in Shippensburg, PA (1985) because of its allegedly offensive language.
- Challenged as appropriate for high school reading lists in the Shelby County, TN school system (1989) because the novel contains "offensive language."
- Challenged, but retained in the Champaign, IL high school English classes (1991) despite claims that “unsuitable language” makes it inappropriate.
- Challenged by the parent of a high school student in Troy, IL (1991) citing profanity and negative attitudes. Students were offered alternative assignments while the school board took the matter under advisement, but no further action was taken on the complaint.
- Challenged at the McDowell County, NC schools (1996) because of "graphic language."
Dreams of Gods and Monsters
– Taylor, Laini
- Banned in some US school districts.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
– Tamaki, Mariko
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Good Kind of Trouble
– Ramée, Lisa Moore
- Banned in some US school districts.
See Mo Srtanger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love
– Kaur, Valarie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Queen of Shadows
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Poet X
– Acevedo, Elizabeth
- Banned in some US school districts.
How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity
– Cart, Michael
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Court of Silver Flames
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Brideshead Revisited
– Evelyn Waugh
- Alabama Representative Gerald Allen (R-Cottondale) proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of public funds for the "purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." The bill also proposed that novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed. The bill would impact all Alabama school, public, and university libraries. While it would ban books like Heather Has Two Mommies, it could also include classic and popular novels with gay characters such as Brideshead Revisited, The Color Purple or The Picture of Dorian Gray (2005).
The Bridge
– Konigsberg, Bill
- Banned in some US school districts.
Willful Machines
– Floreen, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Renaissance
– Fitzpatrick, Anne
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Scandal
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Dead-Tossed Waves
– Ryan, Carrie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gates of Paradise
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
I Am Jazz
– Jennings, Jazz
- Banned in some US school districts.
On the Origin of Species
– Charles Darwin
Published: 1859
The foundational text of evolutionary biology. Through study and observation of the biology and geology of the Galapagos Islands, Darwin recognized that advantageous and heritable changes in the structure and function of livings beings would help their survival, eventually resulting in new species. It is here that Darwin first lays out his theory of “survival of the fittest” (though this phrase was not used until the fifth edition). Darwin’s summary demonstrates a high standard of scientific prose.
- Banned from the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, where Darwin had been a student
- Banned from all schools in Tennessee, USA (1925-1967).
Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen
– Jennings, Jazz
- Banned in some US school districts.
Soul Eater, Vol. 4
– Ohkubo, Atsushi
- Banned in some US school districts.
It Ends With Us
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe
– O’Malley, Bryan Lee
- Banned in some US school districts.
Little Blog on the Prairie
– Bell, Cathleen Davitt
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Hate U Give
– Thomas, Angie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Collateral
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083
– White, Andrea
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Breakaways
– Johnson, Cathy G.
- Banned in some US school districts.
A History of Art
– Perdew, Laura
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eagle Strike
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Wings of Merlin
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Hooked
– Greenman, Catherine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Twisted
– Anderson, Laurie Halse
- Banned in some US school districts.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 - Phantom Blood, Vol. 1
– Araki, Hirohiko
- Banned in some US school districts.
Slaughterhouse-Five
– Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Pride Guide: A Guide to Sexual and Social Health for LGBTQ Youth
– Langford, Jo
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mythology
– Wright, Anne Margaret
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Dead Inside
– Etler, Cyndy Drew
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Hill
– Bryan, Ali
- Banned in some US school districts.
And Tango Makes Three
– Richardson, Justin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Skeleton Key
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Days of Blood and Starlight
– Taylor, Laini
- Banned in some US school districts.
Raphael: His Life, Works, and Times
– Muntz, Eugene
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales
– Wild, Ailsa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mirror of the World: A New History of Art
– Bell, Julian
- Banned in some US school districts.
Odd One Out
– Stone, Nic
- Banned in some US school districts.
Green River Killer: A True Detective Story
– Jensen, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Kite Runner
– Hosseini, Khaled
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ark Angel
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience
– Bhagwati, Anuradha
- Banned in some US school districts.
My Friend Dahmer
– Backderf, Derf
- Banned in some US school districts.
André Kertész
– Greenough, Sarah
- Banned in some US school districts.
Soul Eater, Vol. 1
– Ohkubo, Atsushi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Cost of Knowing
– Morris, Brittney
- Banned in some US school districts.
Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens
– Belge, Kathy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
– Durrow, Heidi W.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Victoria and the Rogue
– Cabot, Meg
- Banned in some US school districts.
50 Artists You Should Know
– Köster, Thomas
- Banned in some US school districts.
Go With the Flow
– Williams, Lily
- Banned in some US school districts.
Of Mice and Men
– John Steinbeck
- Of Mice and MenBanned in Ireland (1953); Syracuse, IN (1974); Oil City, PA (I977); Grand Blanc, MI (1979); Continental, OH (1980) and other communities.
- Challenged in Greenville, SC (1977) by the Fourth Province of the Knights of the Ku Klux KIan.
- Challenged by Vernon Verona Sherill, NY School District (1980).
- Challenged by St. David, AZ (1981).
- Challenged in Tell City, IN (1982) due to "profanity and using God's name in vain."
- Banned from classroom use at the Scottsboro, AL Skyline High School (1983) due to "profanity."
- The Knoxville, TN School Board chairman vowed to have "filthy books" removed from Knoxville's public schools (1984) and picked Steinbeck's novel as the first target due to "its vulgar language."
- Reinstated at the Christian County, KY school libraries and English classes (1987) after being challenged as vulgar and offensive.
- Challenged in the Marion County, WV schools (1988), at the Wheaton Warrenville, IL Middle School (1988), and at the Berrien Springs, MI High School (1988) because the book contains profanity.
- Removed from the Northside High School in Tuscaloosa, AL (1989) because the book "has profane use of God's name."
- Challenged as a summer youth program reading assignment in Chattanooga, TN (1989) because "Steinbeck is known to have had an anti business attitude." In addition, "he was very questionable as to his patriotism."
- Removed from all reading lists and collected at the White Chapel High School in Pine Bluff, AR (1989) because of objections to language.
- Challenged as appropriate for high school reading lists in the Shelby County, TN school system (1989) because the novel contains "offensive language."
- Challenged, but retained in a Salina, KS (1990) tenth grade English class despite concerns that it contains "profanity" and it "takes the Lord's name in vain."
- Challenged by a Fresno, CA (1991) parent as a tenth grade English college preparatory curriculum assignment, citing profanity" and "racial slurs." The book was retained, and the child of the objecting parent was provided with an alternative reading assignment.
- Challenged in the Rivera, TX schools (1990) because it contains profanity.
- Challenged as curriculum material at the Ringgold High School in Carroll Township, PA (1991) because the novel contains terminology offensive to blacks.
- Removed and later returned to the Suwannee, FL High School library (1991) because the book is "indecent"
- Challenged at the Jacksboro, TN High School (1991) because the novel contains "blasphemous" language, excessive cursing, and sexual overtones.
- Challenged as required reading in the Buckingham County, VA schools (1991) because of profanity.
- In 1992 a coalition of community members and clergy in Mobile, AL requested that local school officials form a special textbook screening committee to "weed out objectionable things." Steinbeck's novel was the first target because it contains "profanity" and "morbid and depressing themes."
- Temporarily removed from the Hamilton, OH High School reading list (1992) after a parent complained about its vulgarity and racial slurs.
- Challenged in the Waterloo, IA schools (1992) and the Duval County, FL public school libraries (1992) because of profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.
- Challenged at the Modesto, CA High School as recommended reading (1992) because of "offensive and racist language."
- Challenged at the Oak Hill High School in Alexandria, LA (1992) because of profanity.
- Challenged as an appropriate English curriculum assignment at the Mingus, AZ Union High School (1993) because of "profane language, moral statement, treatment of the retarded, and the violent ending." Pulled from a classroom by the Putnam County, TN school superintendent (1994) "due to the language." Later, after discussions with the school district counsel, it was reinstated.
- Challenged in the Loganville, GA High School (1994) because of its "vulgar language throughout."
- Challenged in the Galena, KS school library (1995) because of the book's language and social implications.
- in the Bemidji, MN schools (1995) after challenges to the book's "objectionable" language.
- Challenged at the Stephens County High School library in Toccoa, GA (I995) because of "curse words." The book was retained.
- Challenged, but retained in a Warm Springs, VA High School (1995) English class.
- Banned from the Washington Junior High School curriculum in Peru, IL (1997) because it was deemed "age inappropriate."
- Challenged, but retained, in the Louisville, OH high school English classes (1997) because of profanity.
- Removed, restored, restricted, and eventually retained at the Bay County schools in Panama City, FL (1997).
- A citizen group, the 100 Black United, Inc., requested the novel's removal and "any other inadmissible literary books that have racial slurs in them, such as the using of the 'N' word.
- Challenged as a reading list assignment for a ninth grade literature class, but retained at the Sauk Rapids Rice High School in St. Cloud, MN (1997).
- A parent complained that the book's use of racist language led to racist behavior and racial harassment.
- Challenged in O'Hara Park Middle School classrooms in Oakley, CA (1998) because it contains racial epithets.
- Challenged, but retained, in the Bryant, AR school library (1998) because of a parent's complaint that the book "takes God's name in vain 15 times and uses Jesus's name lightly."
- Challenged at the Barron, WI School District (1998).
- Challenged, but retained in the sophomore curriculum at West Middlesex, PA High School (1999) despite objections to the novel's profanity.
- Challenged in the Tomah, WI School District (1999) because the novel is violent and contains obscenities.
- Challenged as required reading at the high school in Grandville, MI (2002) because the book "is full of racism, profanity, and foul language."
- Banned from the George County, MS schools (2002) because of profanity.
- Challenged in the Normal, IL Community High Schools (2003) because the books contains "racial slurs, profanity, violence, and does not represent traditional values." An alternative book, Steinbeck's The Pearl, was offered but rejected by the family challenging the novel. The committee then recommended The House on Mango Street and The Way to Rainy Mountain as alternatives.
- Retained in the Greencastle-Antrim, PA (2006) tenth-grade English classes. A complaint was filed because of “racial slurs” and profanity used throughout the novel. The book has been used in the high school for more than thirty years, and those who object to its content have the option of reading an alternative reading.
- Challenged at the Newton, IA High School (2007) because of concerns about profanity and the portrayal of Jesus Christ. Newton High School has required students to read the book since at least the early 1980s. In neighboring Des Moines, it is on the recommended reading list for ninth-grade English, and it is used for some special education students in the eleventh and twelfth grades.
- Retained in the Olathe, KS ninth grade curriculum (2007) despite a parent calling the novel a “worthless, profanity-riddled book” which is “derogatory towards African Americans, women, and the developmentally disabled.”
Gender Issues
– McIntosh, Kenneth
- Banned in some US school districts.
Michelangelo: Master of the Italian Renaissance
– Di Cagno, Gabriella
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Cape
– Hill, Joe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Homegoing
– Gyasi, Yaa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fire Force, Vol. 1
– Ohkubo, Atsushi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fruits of Philosophy: Or the Private Companion of Adult People
– Charles Knowlton
Published: 1839
The Essential Claude Monet
– Morris, Catherine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Pillage
– Skye, Obert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lush
– Friend, Natasha
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Mary Cassatt
– Gouveia, Georgette
- Banned in some US school districts.
American Gods, Vol. 2: My Ainsel
– Gaiman, Neil
- Banned in some US school districts.
Killer Spirit
– Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
- Banned in some US school districts.
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
– Walker, Sally M.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Art: Annotated Guides
– Cumming, Robert
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Music of What Happens
– Konigsberg, Bill
- Banned in some US school districts.
Half of a Yellow Sun
– Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Giver: Graphic Novel
– Lowry, Lois
- Banned in some US school districts.
Breaking Dawn
– Meyer, Stephanie
- Banned in some US school districts.
In Cold Blood
– Truman Capote
- Banned, but later reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah, GA (2000). The controversy began in early 1999 when a parent complained about sex, violence, and profanity in the book that was part of an Advanced Placement English Class.
The Exact Opposite of Okay
– Steven, Laura
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Brief History of Manga
– McCarthy, Helen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Dazzling Heights
– McGee, Katharine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Protesting Police Violence in Modern America
– Harris, Duchess
- Banned in some US school districts.
The House of the Spirits
– Allende, Isabel
- Banned in some US school districts.
Boy2Girl
– Blacker, Terence
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Phantom Twin
– Brown, Lisa
- Banned in some US school districts.
The House on Mango Street
– Cisneros, Sandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation
– Folman, Ari
- Banned in some US school districts.
Complete Guide to Drawing and Painting
– Reader’s Digest Editors
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Freedom Writers Diary
– Gruwell, Erin
- Banned in some US school districts.
And They Lived…
– Salvatore, Steven
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sumomomo, Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth, Vol. 1
– Ohtaka, Shinobu
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dead Until Dark
– Harris, Charlaine
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Edward Hopper
– Spring, Justin
- Banned in some US school districts.
The War Prayer
– Mark Twain
Written in 1905 in response to the Spanish-American War and the subsequent US colonial attack on the Philippines.
- His family feared The War Prayer would be considered sacrilegious. Twain's publisher and other friends also discouraged him from publishing. Mindful of possible public reactions, Twain self-censored the story until after his death. Twain's illustrator Dan Beard asked him if he would publish it, and Twain replied, "No, I have told the whole truth in that, and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead."
View
Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression
– Gottlieb, Iris
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 2
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Home for the Holidays
– Vogel Frederick, Heather
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lolita
– Nabokov, Vladimir
- Banned in some US school districts.
Schooled
– Korman, Gordon
- Banned in some US school districts.
Assassination Classroom
– Matsui, Yūsei
- Banned in some US school districts.
Don’t Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned
– Davis, Kenneth C.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Life in a Nazi Concentration Camp
– Nardo, Don
- Banned in some US school districts.
If You Could Be Mine
– Farizan, Sara
- Banned in some US school districts.
Flamer
– Curato, Mike
- Banned in some US school districts.
Home Run
– Green, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
Both Can Be True
– Machias, Jules
- Banned in some US school districts.
Allegedly
– Jackson, Tiffany D.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rubens: Garden of Love
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Flowers in the Attic
– Andrews, V.C.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
– Kendi, Ibram X.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Lord of the Rings
– J.R.R. Tolkien
- Burned in Alamagordo, NM (2001) outside Christ Community Church along with other Tolkien novels as satanic.
When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball
– Weakland, Mark
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Gender Quest Workbook: A Guide for Teens and Young Adults Exploring Gender Identity
– Testa, Rylan Jay
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lord of Shadows
– Clare, Cassandra
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Mirror of Merlin
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
– Sanders, Rob
- Banned in some US school districts.
Brave Face: A Memoir
– Hutchinson, Shaun David
- Banned in some US school districts.
Triangles
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
All-Action Classics No. 3: The Odyssey
– Homer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Race and Policing in Modern America
– Harris, Duchess
- Banned in some US school districts.
An Introduction to Drawing: An Artist’s Guide to Skills & Techniques
– Hazlewood, Robin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Catwoman: Soulstealer
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
– Ken Kesey
- Challenged in the Greeley, CO public school district (1971) as a non-required American Culture reading.
- In 1974, five residents of Strongsville, OH, sued the board of education to remove the novel. Labeling it "pornographic," they charged the novel "glorifies criminal activity, has a tendency to corrupt juveniles and contains descriptions of bestiality, bizarre violence, and torture, dismemberment, death, and human elimination."
- Removed from public school libraries in Randolph, NY, and Alton, OK (1975).
- Removed from the required reading list in Westport, MA (1977).
- Banned from the St. Anthony, ID Freemont High School classrooms (1978) and the instructor fired. The teacher sued. A decision in the case—Fogarty v. Atchley—was never published.
- Challenged at the Merrimack, NH High School (1982).
- Challenged as part of the curriculum in an Aberdeen, WA High School honors English class (1986) because the book promotes "secular humanism." The school board voted to retain the title.
- Challenged at the Placentia-Yorba Linda, CA Unified School District (2000) after complaints by parents stated that teachers "can choose the best books, but they keep choosing this garbage over and over again."
Graphic Design: A New History
– Eskilson, Stephen J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blackbird: Book 1 the Great Beast
– Humphries, Sam
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Michelangelo
– Ottomann, Klaus
- Banned in some US school districts.
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
– Kang, Lydia
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Loudness
– Courage, Nick
- Banned in some US school districts.
Stiegliz on Photography: His Selected Essays and Notes
– Stieglitz, Alfred
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fixer
– Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
- Banned in some US school districts.
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites
– Dorkin, Evan
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
– Schwab, v. E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Batman: The Killing Joke
– Moore, Alan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
– McGraw, Eloise Jarvis
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Dark Tide
– Jasinska, Alicia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Grown in 60 Seconds
– Lee, Darrien
- Banned in some US school districts.
Slaughterhouse Five
– Kurt Vonnegut
- Challenged in many communities, and burned in Drake, ND (1973).
- Banned in Rochester, MI because the novel "contains and makes references to religious matters" and thus fell within the ban of the establishment clause. An appellate court upheld its usage in the school in Todd v Rochester Community Schools, 41 Mich. App. 320, 200 N. W 2d 90 (1972).
- Banned in Levittown, NY (1975), North Jackson, OH (1979), and Lakeland, FL (1982) because of the "book's explicit sexual scenes, violence, and obscene language."
- Barred from purchase at the Washington Park High School in Racine, WI (1984) by the district administrative assistant for instructional services.
- Challenged at the Owensboro, KY High School library (1985) because of "foul language, a section depicting a picture of an act of bestiality, a reference to 'Magic Fingers' attached to the protagonist's bed to help him sleep, and the sentence: 'The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty.'
- Restricted to students who have parental permission at the four Racine, WI Unified District high school libraries (1986) because of "language used in the book, depictions of torture, ethnic slurs, and negative portrayals of women."
- Challenged at the LaRue County, KY High School library (1987) because "the book contains foul language and promotes deviant sexual behavior.”
- Banned from the Fitzgerald, GA schools (1987) because it was filled with profanity and full of explicit sexual references:'
- Challenged in the Baton Rouge, LA public high school libraries (1988) because the book is "vulgar and offensive:'
- Challenged in the Monroe, MI public schools (1989) as required reading in a modem novel course for high school juniors and seniors because of the book's language and the way women are portrayed.
- Retained on the Round Rock, TX Independent High School reading list (1996) after a challenge that the book was too violent.
- Challenged as an eleventh grade summer reading option in Prince William County, VA (1998) because the book "was rife with profanity and explicit sex".
- Removed as required reading for sophomores at the Coventry, RI High School (2000) after a parent complained that it contains vulgar language, violent imagery, and sexual content.
- Retained on the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 reading list in Arlington Heights, IL (2006), along with eight other challenged titles. A board member, elected amid promises to bring her Christian beliefs into all board decision-making, raised the controversy based on excerpts from the books she'd found on the internet.
- Challenged in the Howell, MI High School (2007) because of the book's strong sexual content.
- In response to a request from the president of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education, or LOVE, the county's top law enforcement official reviewed the books to see whether laws against distribution of sexually explicit materials to minors had been broken. "After reading the books in question, it is clear that the explicit passages illustrated a larger literary, artistic or political message and were not included solely to appeal to the prurient interests of minors," the county prosecutor wrote. "Whether these materials are appropriate for minors is a decision to be made by the school board, but I find that they are not in violation of criminal laws."
Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)
– Rosen, L. C.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Milk and Honey
– Kaur, Rupi
- Banned in some US school districts.
Patience
– Clowes, Daniel
- Banned in some US school districts.
Man O’ War
– McCarthy, Cory
- Banned in some US school districts.
Holocaust Resistance
– Blohm, Craig E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Epidemic
– Young, Suzanne
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Heart of Betrayal
– Pearson, Mary E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Discovering Mythology - Gods and Goddesses
– Mass, Wendy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Raphael: School of Athens
– Dolcetta, Marco
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Midnight Lie
– Rutkoski, Marie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Citrus Plus, Vol. 2
– Saburouta
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Sun Also Rises
– Ernest Hemingway
- Banned in Boston, MA (1930), Ireland (1953), Riverside, CA (1960), San Jose, CA (1960).
- Burned in Nazi bonfires in Germany (1933).
Verity
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die: The Ultimate Guide to Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Manga
– Gravett, Paul
- Banned in some US school districts.
House of Earth and Blood
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Locke & Key Vol. 1: Welcomeome to Lovecraft
– Hill, Joe
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Pablo Picasso
– Schaffner, Ingrid
- Banned in some US school districts.
Leaving Paradise
– Elkeles, Simone
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Yellow Birds
– Powers, Kevin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Shattered Warrior
– Shinn, Sharon
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Storm of Swords
– Martin, George R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Frost Like Night
– Raasch, Sara
- Banned in some US school districts.
Forever for a Year
– Gottfred, B. T.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
– See, Lisa
- Banned in some US school districts.
D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History
– Hopkinson, Deborah
- Banned in some US school districts.
Scene of the Crime: Tracking Down Criminals With Forensic Science
– Newquist, H.P.
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Farewell to Arms
– Ernest Hemingway
- The June 1929 issue of Scribner's Magazine, which ran Hemingway's novel, was banned in Boston, MA (1929).
- Banned in Italy (1929) because of its painfully accurate account of the Italian retreat from Caporetto, Italy.
- Burned by the Nazis in Germany (1933).
- Banned in Ireland (1939).
- Challenged at the Dallas, TX Independent School District high school libraries (1974).
- Challenged at the Vernon-Verona-Sherill, NY School District (1980) as a "sex novel."
Ultimate Magic
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Julián Is a Mermaid
– Love, Jessica
- Banned in some US school districts.
All the King’s Men
– Robert Penn Warren
- Challenged at the Dallas, TX Independent School District high school libraries (1974).
Autoboyography
– Lauren, Christina
- Banned in some US school districts.
House of Dark Shadows
– Liparulo, Robert
- Banned in some US school districts.
Turtles All the Way Down
– Green, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Black Brother, Black Brother
– Parker Rhodes, Jewell
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eden Conquered
– Charbonneau, Joelle
- Banned in some US school districts.
Now I Rise
– White, Kiersten
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Kiss of Deception
– Pearson, Mary E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Messenger
– Lowry, Lois
- Banned in some US school districts.
Misguided Angel
– De La Cruz, Melissa
- Banned in some US school districts.
Infandous
– Arnold, Elana K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ground Zero
– Gratz, Alan
- Banned in some US school districts.
Puberty Is Gross but Also Really Awesome
– Loveless, Gina
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rabbit, Run
– John Updike
- Banned in Ireland in 1962 because the Irish Board of Censors found the work "obscene" and "indecent," objecting particularly to the author's handling of the characters' sexuality, the "explicit sex acts" and "promiscuity."
- The work was officially banned from sales in Ireland until the introduction of the revised Censorship Publications Bill in 1967.
- Restricted to high school students with parental permission in the six Aroostock County, ME community high school libraries (1976) because of passages in the book dealing with sex and an extramarital affair.
- Removed from the required reading list for English class at the Medicine Bow, WY Junior High School (1986) because of sexual references and profanity.
Zahra’s Paradise
– Amir
- Banned in some US school districts.
Big Bob, Little Bob
– Howe, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dateable: Are You? Are They?
– Lookadoo, Justin
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Program
– Young, Suzanne
- Banned in some US school districts.
Looking for Alaska
– Green, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bingo Love #1
– Franklin, Tee
- Banned in some US school districts.
Calvin
– Ford, J. R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Girls I’ve Been
– Sharpe, Tess
- Banned in some US school districts.
All the Things We Do in the Dark
– Mitchell, Saundra
- Banned in some US school districts.
All American Boys
– Reynolds, Jason
- Banned in some US school districts.
I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 1: Madly Ever After
– Young, Skottie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bone Parish, Vol. 1
– Bunn, Cullen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Monday’s Not Coming
– Jackson, Tiffany D.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Draw Me a Star
– Carle, Eric
- Banned in some US school districts.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”: The Authorized Graphic Adaptation
– Hyman, Miles
- Banned in some US school districts.
Outlander
– Gabaldon, Diana
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Pacific Giants
– Flitcroft, Jean
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ninth House
– Bardugo, Leigh
- Banned in some US school districts.
Burned (EH)
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Annie Leibovitz at Work
– Leibovitz, Annie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Tower of Dawn
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Date Rape (At Issue)
– Watkins, Christine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Oryx and Crake
– Atwood, Margaret
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Mythics #1: Heroes Reborn
– Ogaki, Philippe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Fighter for Justice: Her Impact on the Civil Rights Movement, the White House, and the World
– Cooper, Ilene
- Banned in some US school districts.
My Rainbow
– Neal, DeShanna
- Banned in some US school districts.
Poisoned
– Donnelly, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Leah on the Offbeat
– Albertalli, Becky
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Great Gatsby
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston, SC (1987) because of "language and sexual references in the book."
Afterward
– Mathieu, Jennifer
- Banned in some US school districts.
Tattoo Atlas
– Floreen, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
King’s Cage
– Aveyard, Victoria
- Banned in some US school districts.
Watch Over Me
– LaCour, Nina
- Banned in some US school districts.
Every Hidden Thing
– Oppel, Kenneth
- Banned in some US school districts.
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World
– Bagieu, Pénélope
- Banned in some US school districts.
Graphic Classics Volume 8: Mark Twain - 2nd Edition
– Twain, Mark
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Sex Side of Life
– Mary Ware Dennett
Published: c1919
Birth control activist Mary Ware Dennett wrote The Sex Side of Life because she found existing sexual education literature to be confusing and dishonest. First published as an article in the Medical Review of Reviews in 1918, Mary Ware Dennett’s educational pamphlet was later distributed by mail as a pamphlet. While the pamphlet was endorsed by doctors, churches, and social organizations, its forthright description of sexuality proved controversial.
- In 1922 the Post Office deemed the pamphlet obscene.
- In 1928, Dennett was tried in US federal court and found guilty of distributing obscene materials through the mail. A Mary Ware Dennett Defense Committee was organized under the American Civil Liberties Union, and the conviction was overturned in 1930.
The Line
– Hall, Teri
- Banned in some US school districts.
What Girls Are Made Of
– Arnold, Elana K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Sun and Her Flowers
– Kaur, Rupi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Battle Against Polio
– Peters, Stephanie True
- Banned in some US school districts.
Better Nate Than Ever
– Federle, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
More Happy Than Not
– Silvera, Adam
- Banned in some US school districts.
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation
– Tonatiuh, Duncan
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Million Shades of Gray
– Kadohata, Cynthia
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Dance With Dragons
– Martin, George R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Shine
– Myracle, Lauren
- Banned in some US school districts.
Secret Origins
– Lemire, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
Boy Toy
– Lyga, Barry
- Banned in some US school districts.
Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha & Omega
– Hill, Joe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel: Everything You Need to Know to Create Great Graphic Works
– Chinn, Mike
- Banned in some US school districts.
Heroine
– McGinnis, Mindy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Children’s Bible
– Tagholm, Sally
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein
– Judge, Lita
- Banned in some US school districts.
Symptoms of Being Human
– Garvin, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
SuperMutant Magic Academy
– Tamaki, Jillian
- Banned in some US school districts.
In the Lake of the Woods
– O’Brien, Tim
- Banned in some US school districts.
Juliet Takes a Breath
– Rivera, Gabby
- Banned in some US school districts.
All the Bad Apples
– Fowley-Doyle, Moïra
- Banned in some US school districts.
This Book Is Gay
– Dawson, Juno
- Banned in some US school districts.
Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
– Hawking, Stephen
- Banned in some US school districts.
House of Sky and Breath
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
We Can’t Be Friends: A True Story
– Etler, Cyndy Drew
- Banned in some US school districts.
Magritte: The Human Condition
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Someday
– Levithan, David
- Banned in some US school districts.
I’ll Give You the Sun
– Nelson, Jandy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Felix Ever After
– Callender, Kacen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Mein Kampf (My Fight)
– Adolf Hitler
Required reading for all would-be fascists, and those who seek to understand and resist. Hitler originally wanted to call his book Viereinhalb Jahre (des Kampfes) gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit, or Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. Max Amann, head of the Franz Eher Verlag and Hitler’s publisher, is said to have suggested the much shorter “Mein Kampf”.
Although Hitler originally wrote Mein Kampf for the at that time small group of followers of National Socialism, it grew in popularity after he rose to power. Hitler had made about 1.2 million Reichsmarks from the book by 1933 (equivalent to €4,714,299 in 2009), when the average annual income of a teacher was about 4,800 Marks (equivalent to €18,857 in 2009). He accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reichsmark (roughly in 2015 1.4 million EUR) from the sale of about 240,000 copies before he became chancellor in 1933 (at which point his debt was waived).
Hitler began to distance himself from the book after becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933. He dismissed it as “fantasies behind bars” that were little more than a series of articles for the Völkischer Beobachter, and later told Hans Frank that “If I had had any idea in 1924 that I would have become Reich chancellor, I never would have written the book.” Nevertheless, Mein Kampf was a bestseller in Germany during the 1930s. During Hitler’s years in power, the book was in high demand in libraries and often reviewed and quoted in other publications. It was given free to every newlywed couple and every soldier fighting at the front. By 1939 it had sold 5.2 million copies in eleven languages. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies had been sold or distributed in Germany.
Although Hitler originally wrote Mein Kampf for the at that time small group of followers of National Socialism, it grew in popularity after he rose to power. Hitler had made about 1.2 million Reichsmarks from the book by 1933 (equivalent to €4,714,299 in 2009), when the average annual income of a teacher was about 4,800 Marks (equivalent to €18,857 in 2009). He accumulated a tax debt of 405,500 Reichsmark (roughly in 2015 1.4 million EUR) from the sale of about 240,000 copies before he became chancellor in 1933 (at which point his debt was waived).
Hitler began to distance himself from the book after becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933. He dismissed it as “fantasies behind bars” that were little more than a series of articles for the Völkischer Beobachter, and later told Hans Frank that “If I had had any idea in 1924 that I would have become Reich chancellor, I never would have written the book.” Nevertheless, Mein Kampf was a bestseller in Germany during the 1930s. During Hitler’s years in power, the book was in high demand in libraries and often reviewed and quoted in other publications. It was given free to every newlywed couple and every soldier fighting at the front. By 1939 it had sold 5.2 million copies in eleven languages. By the end of the war, about 10 million copies had been sold or distributed in Germany.
- A variety of restrictions, annotations or special circumstances apply in many countries.
- The U.S. government seized the copyright in September 1942 during the Second World War under the Trading with the Enemy Act
- The government of Bavaria, in agreement with the federal government of Germany, refused to allow any copying or printing of Mein Kampf in Germany. It also opposed copying and printing in other countries, but with less success.
- Under German copyright law, the entire text entered the public domain on January 1, 2016, 70 years after the author's death.
- In 1999, the Simon Wiesenthal Center documented that the book was available in Germany via major online booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. After a public outcry, both companies agreed to end these sales to addresses in Germany.
- In March 2020, Amazon banned sales of new and second-hand copies, and several other Nazi publications, on its platform.
The Thousandth Floor
– McGee, Katharine
- Banned in some US school districts.
Kingdom of Ash
– Maas, Sarah J.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Grown
– Jackson, Tiffany D.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Essential Henri Matisse
– Schaffner, Ingrid
- Banned in some US school districts.
Wintersong
– Jae-Jones, S.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Horde
– Bennett, Marguerite
- Banned in some US school districts.
Red: A Crayon’s Story
– Hall, Michael
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
– Chbosky, Stephen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Better Than Perfect
– Elkeles, Simone
- Banned in some US school districts.
Jay’s Gay Agenda
– June, Jason
- Banned in some US school districts.
Identical
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Last Halloween: Children
– Howard, Abby
- Banned in some US school districts.
Master Keaton, Vol. 4
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
Little & Lion
– Colbert, Brandy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Challenger Deep
– Shusterman, Neal
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Feast for Crows
– Martin, George R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Frankie & Bug
– Forman, Gayle
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Well of Loneliness
– Adclyffe Hall
Graphic Classics: Bram Stoker
– Pomplun, Tom
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Black Flamingo
– Atta, Dean
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
– Bechdel, Alison
- Banned in some US school districts.
When Aidan Became a Brother
– Lukoff, Kyle
- Banned in some US school districts.
Women in Love
– DH Lawrence
- Seized by John Summers of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and declared obscene (1922).
Cursed Pirate Girl
– Bastian, Jeremy A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Deep Dark Fears
– Krause, Fran
- Banned in some US school districts.
Hitler’s Final Solution
– Allen, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Blue Window
– Gewirtz, Adina Rishe
- Banned in some US school districts.
Snakehead
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
From Blood and Ash
– Armentrout, Jennifer L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Man Ray: The Paris Years
– Taylor, Michael R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Scorpia Rising
– Horowitz, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Spy X Family, Vol. 2
– Endo, Tatsuya
- Banned in some US school districts.
All Boys Aren’t Blue
– Johnson, George M.
- Banned in some US school districts.
November 9
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Brisingr
– Paolini, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
Manet: Le Dejeuner Sur I’herbe
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Low, Low Woods
– Machado, Carmen Maria
- Banned in some US school districts.
Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard
– Brown, Echo
- Banned in some US school districts.
A + E 4ever
– Merey, I.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy
– Jensen, Kelly
- Banned in some US school districts.
Confess
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Harry Callahan: The Photographer at Work
– Salvesen, Britt
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Book of Magic
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Two Towers
– Tolkien, J.R.R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
If I Stay
– Forman, Gayle
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Infinite Moment of Us
– Myracle, Lauren
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Nowhere Girls
– Reed, Amy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Animal Farm
– George Orwell
- A Wisconsin survey revealed in 1963 that the John Birch Society had challenged the novel's use; it objected to the words "masses will revolt."
- In 1968, the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship conducted a comparable study in New York State English classrooms. Its findings identified the novel on its list of "problem books"; the reason cited was that "Orwell was a communist."
- Suppressed from being displayed at the 1977 Moscow, Russia International Book Fair.
- A survey of censorship challenges in the schools, conducted in DeKalb County for the period of 1979 to 1982, revealed that the novel had been objected to for its political theories.
- Banned from Bay County's four middle schools and three high schools in Panama City, FL by the Bay County school superintendent in 1987. After 44 parents filed a suit against the district claiming that its instructional aids policy denies constitutional rights, the Bay County School Board reinstated the book, along with sixty-four others banned.
- Banned from schools in the United Arab Emirates, along with 125 others in 2002. The Ministry of Education banned it on the grounds that it contains written or illustrated material that contradicts Islamic and Arab values--in this text, pictures of alcoholic drinks, pigs, and other "indecent images."
Master Keaton, Vol. 10
– Urasawa, Naoki
- Banned in some US school districts.
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding
– John Locke
Published: 1694
The book posited that people have no innate principles including no sense that God existed or should be worshipped. Locke was the first “to attempt to estimate critically the certainty and the adequacy of human knowledge when confronted with God and the universe,” and concludes that man has a means of controlling his own destiny. His work was foundational for 18th-century philosophers Hume, Berkeley and Kant, and critical to the development of modern philosophy
- Placed on the Catholic Index in 1700 for controversial content.
Layla
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ugly Love
– Hoover, Colleen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Yolk
– Choi, Mary H.K.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Animal Stories
– Hoey, Peter
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Storm in the Barn
– Phelan, Matt
- Banned in some US school districts.
Graceling
– Cashore, Kristin
- Banned in some US school districts.
Sonny’s House of Spies
– Lyon, George Ella
- Banned in some US school districts.
Be Gay, Do Comics: Queer History, Memoir, and Satire
– The Nib
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fugitive
– Grisham, John
- Banned in some US school districts.
Almost Perfect
– Katcher, Brian
- Banned in some US school districts.
Criss Cross
– Perkins, Lynne Rae
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Apparatus of Death - The Third Reich
– Flaherty, Thomas
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dali: The Persistence of Memory
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greeks Myths, Retold
– Rylant, Cynthia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ttyl
– Myracle, Lauren
- Banned in some US school districts.
City of Thieves
– Benioff, David
- Banned in some US school districts.
Hear These Voices: Youth at the Edge of the Millennium
– Allison, Anthony
- Banned in some US school districts.
Kandinsky: The First Abstract Watercolour Painting
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Storytelling in Christian Art From Biotto to Donatello
– Lubbock, Jules
- Banned in some US school districts.
There’s No Place Like Home
– Calonita, Jen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Color Purple
- Challenged as appropriate reading for Oakland, CA High School honors class (1984) due to the work's "sexual and social explicitness" and its "troubling ideas about race relations, man's relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality." After nine months of haggling and delays, a divided Oakland Board of Education gave formal approval for the book's use.
- Rejected for purchase by the Hayward, CA school's trustee (1985) because of "rough language" and "explicit sex scenes."
- Removed from the open shelves of the Newport News, VA school library (1986) because of its "profanity and sexual references" and placed in a special section accessible only to students over the age of 18 or who have written permission from a parent.
- Challenged at the public libraries of Saginaw, MI (1989) because it was “too sexually graphic for a 12-year-old.”
- Challenged as a summer youth program reading assignment in Chattanooga, TN (1989) because of its language and "explicitness."
- Challenged as an optional reading assigned in Ten Sleep, WY schools (1990).
- Challenged as a reading assignment at the New Burn, NC High School (1992) because the main character is raped by her stepfather.
- Banned in the Souderton, PA Area School District (1992) as appropriate reading for 10th graders because it is "smut."
- Challenged on the curricular reading list at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, CT (1995) because sexually explicit passages aren’t appropriate high school reading.
- Retained as an English course reading assignment in the Junction City, OR high school (1995) after a challenge to Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel caused months of controversy. Although an alternative assignment was available, the book was challenged due to "inappropriate language, graphic sexual scenes, and book's negative image of black men."
- Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine, FL (1995).
- Retained on the Round Rock, TX Independent High School reading list (1996) after a challenge that the book was too violent. Vhallenged, but retained, as part of the reading list for Advanced Placement English classes at Northwest High Schools in High Point, NC (1996). The book was challenged because it is "sexually graphic and violent."
- Removed from the Jackson County, WV school libraries (1997) along with sixteen other titles.
- Challenged, but retained as part of a supplemental reading list at the Shawnee School in Lima, OH (1999). Several parents described its content as vulgar and "X-rated."
- Removed from the Ferguson High School library in Newport News, VA (1999). Students may request and borrow the book with parental approval.
- Challenged, along with seventeen other titles in the Fairfax County, VA elementary and secondary libraries (2002), by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools. The group contends the books "contain profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct, and torture.”
- Challenged in Burke County (2008) schools in Morganton, NC by parents concerned about the homosexuality, rape, and incest portrayed in the book.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
– Tanigawa, Nagaru
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Sense of the Infinite
– Smith, Hilary T.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Lost
– Patterson, James
- Banned in some US school districts.
Vermeer: The Astronomer
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Brown v. Board of Education: A Fight for Simple Justice
– Rubin, Susan Goldman
- Banned in some US school districts.
Real Live Boyfriends: Yes. Boyfriends, Plural. if My Life Weren’t Complicated, I Wouldn’t Be Ruby Oliver
– Lockhart, E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Red, White, and Royal Blue
– McQuiston, Casey
- Banned in some US school districts.
Chosen
– Cast, P. C.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Go Ask Alice
– Sparks, Beatrice
- Banned in some US school districts.
Gender Queer: A Memoir
– Kobabe, Maia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Looking at Paintings
– Welton, Jude
- Banned in some US school districts.
Rembrandt: Supper at Emmaus
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Acceptance
– VanderMeer, Jeff
- Banned in some US school districts.
The November Criminals
– Munson, Sam
- Banned in some US school districts.
Anatomy of a Boyfriend
– Snadowsky, Daria
- Banned in some US school districts.
Bone Parish, Vol. 2
– Bunn, Cullen
- Banned in some US school districts.
The History of Western Painting
– Forte, Virginia
- Banned in some US school districts.
Heartstopper, Vol. 2
– Oseman, Alice
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Story About Cancer With a Happy Ending
– Desjardins, India
- Banned in some US school districts.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
– Ernest Hemingway
- Declared non-mailable by the U.S. Post Office (1940).
- On Feb. 21, 1973, eleven Turkish book publishers went on trial before an Istanbul martial law tribunal on charges of publishing, possessing, and selling books in violation of an order of the Istanbul martial law command. They faced possible sentences of between one month and six months imprisonment "for spreading propaganda unfavorable to the state" and the confiscation of their books. Eight booksellers also were on trial with the publishers on the same charge involving For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman
– Rudahl, Sharon
- Banned in some US school districts.
Grass
– Gendry-Kim, Keum Suk
- Banned in some US school districts.
This Day in June
– Pitman, Gayle E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture
– Gay, Roxane
- Banned in some US school districts.
Wayward Son
– Rowell, Rainbow
- Banned in some US school districts.
Fences
– Wilson, August
- Banned in some US school districts.
Parable of the Sower
– Butler, Octavia E.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Parenthesis
– Durand, Elodie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Eldest
– Paolini, Christopher
- Banned in some US school districts.
Lucky
– Sebold, Alice
- Banned in some US school districts.
Consent
– Ohlin, Nancy
- Banned in some US school districts.
Cheshire Crossing
– Weir, Andy
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Glass Castle
– Walls, Jeannette
- Banned in some US school districts.
Modigliani: Reclining Nude
– Zeri, Federico
- Banned in some US school districts.
Yolo
– Myracle, Lauren
- Banned in some US school districts.
Cut Both Ways
– Mesrobian, Carrie
- Banned in some US school districts.
Woke: A Young Poets Call to Justice
– Browne, Mahogany L.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Girl, (Nearly) 16: Absolute Torture
– Limb, Sue
- Banned in some US school districts.
Different Kinds of Fruit
– Lukoff, Kyle
- Banned in some US school districts.
Beloved
– Toni Morrison
- Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine, FL (1995).
- Retained on the Round Rock, TX Independent High School reading list (1996) after a challenge that the book was too violent.
- Challenged by a member of the Madawaska, ME School Committee (1997) because of the book's language. The 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel has been required reading for the advanced placement English class for six years.
- Challenged in the Sarasota County, FL schools (1998) because of sexual material.
- Retained on the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 reading listing in Arlington Heights, IL (2006), along with eight other challenged titles. A board member, elected amid promises to bring her Christian beliefs into all board decision-making, raised the controversy based on excerpts from the books she’d found on the Internet.
- Challenged in the Coeur d’Alene School District, ID (2007). Some parents say the book, along with five others, should require parental permission for students to read them. Pulled from the senior Advanced Placement (AP) English class at Eastern High School in Louisville, KY (2007) because two parents complained that the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about antebellum slavery depicted the inappropriate topics of bestiality, racism, and sex. The principal ordered teachers to start over with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in preparation for upcoming AP exams."
Citrus Plus, Vol. 1
– Saburouta
- Banned in some US school districts.
Cherry
– Rosin, Lindsey
- Banned in some US school districts.
Dime
– Frank, E. R.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
– Taylor, Mildred D.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Perfect
– Hopkins, Ellen
- Banned in some US school districts.
A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl
– Stone, Tanya Lee
- Banned in some US school districts.
City Love
– Colasanti, Susane
- Banned in some US school districts.
Hollow City: The Graphic Novel
– Riggs, Ransom
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Eternal Flame
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Ancient Greeks
– Schomp, Virginia
- Banned in some US school districts.
#Hockey
– Ukazu, Ngozi
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Prince and the Dressmaker
– Wang, Jen
- Banned in some US school districts.
Ivy
– Oleksyk, Sarah
- Banned in some US school districts.
Wraith
– Hill, Joe
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Fires of Merlin
– Barron, T.A.
- Banned in some US school districts.
Beautiful
– Reed, Amy
- Banned in some US school districts.
P. S. I Still Love You
– Han, Jenny
- Banned in some US school districts.
The Giver
– Lowry, Lois
- Banned in some US school districts.
Medusa
– Burton, Jessie
- Banned in some US school districts.