September 21-27 is Banned Books Week! It’s a celebration of the freedom to read under the protection of the First Amendment. Visit our Banned Books Week InfoGuide.
Find out more about banned books on the American Library Association site (ALA) and the Banned Books Week site. You can participate in the Banned Books Virtual Read-Out by creating videos on the virtues of the freedom to read. They will be featured on a dedicated YouTube channel.
According to the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, these were the most challenged books of 2013. How many have you read?
1) Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence
2) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
3) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
4) Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
5) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6) A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
7) Looking for Alaska by John Green
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9) Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
10) Bone (series) by Jeff Smith
Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence