Banned Books Week

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, www.ala.org

Banned Books Week celebrates your freedom to read! Held in September, the week brings attention to the freedom of expression and the freedom to be free of censorship. Launched by the American Booksellers Association (ABA), American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, and the National Association of College Stores in 1982, it has become an annual event. You can read more about the history of Banned Books Week at the American Library Association, Office for Intellectual Freedom, Banned Books Week page.

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, www.ala.org

Below are the most challenged books of 2023:

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 4,240 unique book titles targeted and 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources. Of the books that were targeted, here are the most challenged, along with the reasons cited for censoring the books:

1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because ofLGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
2. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because of LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
3.  This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because of LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, rape, drugs, profanity
5. Flamer by Mike Curato
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse
7. / 8. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
8.  (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content
9. Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
   Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQIA+ content
10. Sold by Patricia McCormick
    Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was claimed to be sexually explicit, rape

Many of these books are repeat offenders! You can view past top 10 lists on the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom's Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists. For an overview of the problem and the trends in censorship, you can view the top 100 challenged books by decade:

• 1990 - 1999
• 2000 - 2009
• 2010 - 2019

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the removal of those materials.