Every September, I look for banned books to recommend to adults. Last year I tried something different and for comparison, I’m doing the same thing this year. I have printed the list of the 10 Most Banned or Challenged Books in the United States in 2022 (reported in 2023) directly from the ALA website. Why? Because I think it is important to understand the political and moral climate of our country. These are the types of books that offend people enough that they try to have them removed from libraries and banned from school curriculums. These are the ideas that frighten people the most.
I’ve also included a list of the ten most banned books from 2001, the first year the ALA began posting these lists.
“Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.” Stephen Chbosky:
In 2023, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022. This is the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and/or Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
The 2023 List of the Top Thirteen Banned or Challenged Books for 2022 (1,269 challenges):
1. Gender Queer; A Memoir by Maia Kobabe - 151 challenges for LGTBQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – 86 challenges for LGTBQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison – 73 challenges for depiction of sexual abuse, EDI content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
4. Flamer by Mike Curato – 62 challenges for LGTBQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
5. Looking for Alaska by John Green – 55 challenges for LGTBQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – (technically tied for #5) 55 challenges for LGTBQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit, drug use sexual abuse, and profanity.
7. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison – 54 challenges for LGTBQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – 52 challenges for profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit.
9. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez – 50 challenges for depictions of abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit.
10. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas – 48 challenges, claimed to be sexually explicit.
11. Crank by Ellen Hopkins – (technically tied for #10) 48 challenges for drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit.
12. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews – (Technically also tied for #10) 48 challenges for profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit.
13. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson – (Technically tied for #10) 48 challenges for LGTBQ+ content, providing sexual education, and claimed to be sexually explicit.
In 2001, there were 448 challenges recorded by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. Here are the top ten Banned or Challenged Books for 2001:
1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – reasons/objections: anti-family, occult/Satanism, religious viewpoints, and/or violence.
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – reasons/objections: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group, and/or violence.
3. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier – reasons/objections: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and/or violence.
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou – reasons/objections; offensive language and/or sexually explicit.
5. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene – reasons/objections: offensive language, racism, and/or sexually explicit.
6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – offensive language and/or unsuited to age group.
7. Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – reasons/objections: sexually explicit and/or unsuited to age group.
8. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous – reasons/objections: drugs, offensive language, and/or sexually explicit.
9. Fallen Angels by Walter Deam Myers – reasons/objections: offensive language.
10. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause - reasons/objections: sexually explicit and/or unsuited to age group.
Sources for this article:
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10/archive