Banned Books Week 2024, September 22-28

September 6, 2024

For Banned Books Week, September 22-28, join us in reading and advocating for the freedom to read diverse literature. The short lists of challenged and banned books below (with links to our catalog) were drawn from various sources, including:

For an easy-to-browse selection of frequently challenged titles, see our Banned Books collection in Overdrive.

Frequently banned (all time)

1984, George Orwell

Alice (series), Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Beloved, Toni Morrison

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (series), Alvin Schwartz

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

More banned classics

A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway

Animal Farm, George Orwell

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

The Call of the Wild, Jack London

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

Banned for racial topics

The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones

All American Boys, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ghost Boys, Jewell Parker Rhodes

Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

Banned for LGBTQ themes

All Boys Aren't Blue, George M. Johnson

Flamer, Mike Curato

Gender Queer: A Memoir, Maia Kobabe

Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human, Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jesse Andrews

Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston

Sold, Patricia McCormick

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

This Book Is Gay, Juno Dawson

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

Tricks, Ellen Hopkins

Banned children’s books

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle

And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume

Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson 

Captain Underpants (series), Dav Pilkey

Harry Potter (series), J.K. Rowling

James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

The Giver, Lois Lowry

This One Summer, Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

Resources

American Library Association Resources shares resources and activities related to Banned Books Week

Banned and Challenged: Restricting access to books in the U.S., a podcast series from NPR, including interviews with authors of banned books

America's Top Librarian on the Rise of Book Bans, a New York Times podcast

Michigan Right to Read, a grassroots coalition of concerned Michigan residents organized by the Michigan Library Association, offering a list of 10 action items everyone can take

Freedom to Read Foundation, a non-profit legal and educational organization affiliated with the American Library Association, protects and defends the First Amendment to the Constitution and supports the right of libraries to collect — and individuals to access — information

PEN America, a nationwide community of writers and devoted readers and supporters uniting to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. PEN America, along with Penguin Random House and a diverse group of authors, have joined with parents and students from Escambia County, Florida, to file a federal lawsuit challenging removals and restrictions of books from school libraries that violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law

Banned Books are available as eBooks and audiobooks in OverDrive for U-M affiliates

Children's Literature Research Guide, section with book challenge research resources

State Policies on Book Challenges in Schools and Libraries collection examines the often “lost” or “hidden” documentation behind book challenges and bans in schools and libraries.

Banned Books Week, September 22-28 — I read banned books!

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