Young Adult Literature
Challenged Authors
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak
Jason Reynolds - American Boys, Stamped
Pam Muñoz Ryan/Elizabeth Acevedo - Esperanza Rising/The Poet X
Benjamin Alire Sáenz - Aristotle and Dante
Melinda Lo -Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Gene Luen Yang - American Born Chinese
Jerry Craft - New Kid
Francisco Jiménez - The Circuit
Nicola Yoon -The Sun is Also a Star
Nic Stone- Dear Martin
Top 10 Most Challenged Books 2023
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2021. Of the 1597 books that were targeted, here are the most challenged, along with the reasons cited for censoring the books:
- Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images - Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit - All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit - Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term - Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women - The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit - This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content. - Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Banned and Challenged Books
"A book worth banning is a book worth reading"
Everyday books are still being challenged and removed from shelves, libraries, classrooms and reading lists across the USA. Challenged and removed books mean that somewhere a child can no longer access that book. Challenged books nearly always include content about marginalized groups. Removal of these books remove a child's sense of inclusion and belonging.
This is a direct attack on our intellectual freedoms, First Amendment Rights, and having a democratic society.
Why Book Banning is Harmful
Book Banning Is Censorship
The most obvious reason why book banning is bad is that it is a form of censorship, the suppression of ideas or information. The First Amendment protects citizens against censorship by the government.
Book Banning Threatens Democracy
Democracy requires educated members of society who can think for themselves to elect leaders who reflect their vaules. Limiting the information available, especially only allowing any specific ideology goes against the very principles the U.S. was founded upon, . Throughout history, censorship has always been one of the first steps to rising authoritarian and tyrannist regimes, where one group or set of ideas is used to oppress all others.
Book Banning Stagnates Society
In an age where much of our infomation comes to us through "bubbles" that confirm any biases we might have, books can help expose us to ideas we might not otherwise come across in our personal feeds or biased news sources. LImiting ourselves to one view willl harm us in an ever-changing global society.
Book Banning Further Isolates Marginalized Populations
The U.S. is a country where people of diverse beliefs and backgrounds have come together yet the stories presented by books and movies are often way less diverse than the populations we see around us. As a result, people with different lived experiences can feel outcast and alone. A lack of diverse people, places, and experiences harms those who are missing from the narrative as well as those who aren't exposed to other stories. Representation matters!
Research has shown that teens exposed to sex education have lower instances of teen pregnancy. Queer teens are less likely to attempt suicide if they are exposed to LGBTQ+ representation in books and media. Hate crimes against racial and religious groups are lower when people have greater exposure to positive messages about other cultures. Inclusive curricula leads to better academic performance and better health and wellbeing for students of many backgrounds,
- Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor From PEN America
- Teaching about Racism Is Essential for Education From Scientific American
Ways to fight back
Facing Challenges (how can we respond?):
- Book Résumés Book Résumés help defend books from censorship. They detail each title’s significance and educational value and are easy to share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members.
- Challenge of Challenges: Challenge Emergency Kit Extinguish a book challenge by assembling the resources listed here.
- Book Challenge Toolkit from CSLA Tools for addressing and fighting book challenges from the California School Library Association
- Responding to Book Challenges for Educators The Free Expression Educators Handbook contains practical tools and advice for managing book challenges and censorship controversies in schools and school libraries. From the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC).
- Defending the Canon: SLJ & NCTE Review 15 Banned Classics ""The biggest issue is that reviews don’t exist saying that Jane Austen’s books have appropriate content for middle school, therefore, according to our collection development policy, we can’t [purchase] it,'"
Talking to Kids about Banned Books
Removing Books to Create Antiracist, Antibiased Collections
Wait! What about removing books (especially older books) that we now know to be racist, sexist and/or homophobic? We don't want these books around but we don't want to be book banners! We just need to be VERY careful in our reasons for removing a book. Is our reasoning personal biases? Is there a general belief that this book is harmful? Watch the slippery slope. Also consider books as historical research, representing thinking at a time in history, for older children's learning, vs. younger children.
Other Barriers to Access
Beyond banning: What other barriers exist for access:
- Held “pending investigation”
- Purchasing
- Location in collection
- Need to ask
- Hide from family/friends
- Need to check out (fines?)