List of most commonly challenged books in the United States
A challenged book is one that is sought to be removed or otherwise restricted from public access, typically from a library or a school curriculum. This is a list of the most commonly challenged books in the United States. It is primarily based on data gathered by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). The OIF gathers their data from media reports from reports from librarians and teachers.[1]
According to the OIF, the top three reasons for challenging such materials were that they contained "sexually explicit" content, "offensive" language, or were "unsuited to any age group".[2]
List
The list is sorted alphabetically by default. Included is each book's rank in the ALA's lists of top 100 challenged books by decade (if applicable).
Title | Author | Reason(s) for Challenge | Year(s) published |
2000–2009 ALA rank[3] |
1990–1999 ALA rank[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian[5] | Sherman Alexie | Content regarding alcohol, bullying, violence; sexual references; profanity and slurs | 2007 | N/A | N/A |
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | Coarse language, racial stereotypes and use of the word "nigger" | 1884 | 14 | 5 |
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby | Dav Pilkey | Encouraging poor spelling | 2002 | 47 | N/A |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Mark Twain | Coarse language; racial stereotypes | 1876 | N/A | 83 |
Alice (series) | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | Sexual content | 1985–2012 | 2 | 14 |
All the King's Men[6] | Robert Penn Warren | Depicting a "depressing view of life" and "immoral situations" | 1946 | N/A | N/A |
Always Running | Luis J. Rodriguez | Gang violence, drug use and sexual references | 1993 | 68 | 85 |
America | E.R. Frank | Sexual references; drug and alcohol use | 2002 | 100 | N/A |
American Psycho | Bret Easton Ellis | Sexual references; violence toward women | 1991 | N/A | 53 |
An American Tragedy[6] | Theodore Dreiser | Sexual content; abortion; murder | 1925 | N/A | N/A |
The Anarchist Cookbook | William Powell | Content related to the manufacturing of illicit narcotics and explosives | 1971 | N/A | 59 |
Anastasia Krupnik (series) | Lois Lowry | References to beer, Playboy Magazine, and suicide | 1979–1995 | 75 | 28 |
And Tango Makes Three | Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson | Content regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage | 2005 | 4 | N/A |
Animal Farm[6] | George Orwell | 1945 | N/A | N/A | |
Annie on My Mind | Nancy Garden | LGBT content | 1982 | N/A | 44 |
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging | Louise Rennison | Crude language, sexual content, LGBT content | 1999 | 35 | N/A |
Arizona Kid | Ron Koertge | LGBT content | 1988 | N/A | 75 |
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. | Judy Blume | Content dealing with menstrual cycles and feminine hygiene | 1970 | 99 | 60 |
Arming America | Michael A. Bellesiles | Content dealing with firearms | 2000 | 38 | N/A |
As I Lay Dying[6] | William Faulkner | Dealing with issues of death; abortion | 1930 | N/A | N/A |
Asking About Sex and Growing Up | Joanna Cole | 1988 | N/A | 57 | |
Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories | Chris Crutcher | Content dealing with eating disorders, child abuse, racism, LGBT themes and AIDS | 1991 | 44 | 63 |
The Awakening[6] | Kate Chopin | Sexual content | 1899 | N/A | N/A |
A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl[5] | Tanya Lee Stone | Crude language, sexual content, mature themes | 2006 | N/A | N/A |
Beloved | Toni Morrison | Themes regarding slavery; violence | 1987 | 26 | 45 |
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out | Susan Kuklin | Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”). | 2014 | ||
Black Boy | Richard Wright | Themes of Communism, racism and atheism | 1946 | 81 | N/A |
Bless Me, Ultima | Rudolfo Anaya | Profanity, crude language and violence | 1972 | 32 | 78 |
Blood and Chocolate | Annette Curtis Klause | Sexual content; supernatural themes | 1997 | 57 | N/A |
Blubber | Judy Blume | Content dealing with the issue of bullying | 1974 | 43 | 30 |
The Bluest Eye | Toni Morrison | Themes of racism, incest and child sexual abuse | 1970 | 15 | 34 |
Bone (series)[5] | Jeff Smith | References to smoking, drinking and gambling | 1991–2004 | N/A | N/A |
The Boy Who Lost His Face | Louis Sachar | Themes of the occult, sexuality and bullying; profanity | 1989 | 92 | 46 |
Boys and Sex | Wardell Pomeroy | 1968 | N/A | 61 | |
Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | Alleged anti-religion and anti-family themes; sexual content | 1931 | 36 | 54 |
Brideshead Revisited[6] | Evelyn Waugh | Themes of homosexuality, alcoholism, infidelity | 1945 | N/A | N/A |
Bridge to Terabithia | Katherine Paterson | 1977 | 28 | 8 | |
Bumps in the Night | Harry Allard | 1979 | 93 | 56 | |
The Call of the Wild[6] | Jack London | 1903 | N/A | N/A | |
Captain Underpants (series) | Dav Pilkey | 1997–2015 | 13 | N/A | |
Carrie | Stephen King | 1974 | N/A | 81 | |
Cat's Cradle[6] | Kurt Vonnegut | 1963 | N/A | N/A | |
Catch-22[6] | Joseph Heller | 1961 | N/A | N/A | |
The Catcher in the Rye | J. D. Salinger | 1951 | 19 | 10 | |
The Chocolate War | Robert Cormier | 1974 | 3 | 4 | |
Christine | Stephen King | 1983 | N/A | 95 | |
A Clockwork Orange[6] | Anthony Burgess | 1962 | N/A | N/A | |
The Color Purple | Alice Walker | 1982 | 17 | 17 | |
The Color Trilogy (series)[5] | Kim Dong Hwa | 2009 | N/A | N/A | |
Crank[5] | Ellen Hopkins | 2004 | N/A | N/A | |
Crazy | Benjamin Lebert | 2000 | 77 | N/A | |
Crazy Lady! | Jane Leslie Conly | 1993 | 45 | 62 | |
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat | Alvin Schwartz | 1974 | N/A | 47 | |
Cujo | Stephen King | 1983 | N/A | 49 | |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Mark Haddon | Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”). | 2003 | ||
Curses, Hexes and Spells | Daniel Cohen | 1974 | N/A | 71 | |
Cut | Patricia McCormick | 2000 | 86 | N/A | |
Daddy's Roommate | Michael Willhoite | 1991 | N/A | 2 | |
Daughters of Eve | Lois Duncan | 1979 | 51 | N/A | |
A Day No Pigs Would Die | Robert Newton Peck | 1972 | 80 | 16 | |
The Dead Zone | Stephen King | 1979 | N/A | 82 | |
Deal with It! | Esther Drill | 1999 | 82 | N/A | |
Deenie | Judy Blume | 1973 | N/A | 42 | |
Detour for Emmy | Marilyn Reynolds | 1993 | 83 | N/A | |
Drama[5] | Raina Telgemeier | 2012 | N/A | N/A | |
Draw Me a Star | Eric Carle | 1992 | 61 | N/A | |
The Drowning of Stephan Jones | Bette Greene | 1991 | N/A | 96 | |
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things | Carolyn Mackler | 2003 | 34 | N/A | |
Earth's Children (series) | Jean M. Auel | 1980–2011 | N/A | 19 | |
The Face on the Milk Carton | Caroline B. Cooney | 1990 | 29 | 80 | |
The Facts Speak For Themselves | Brock Cole | 1997 | 54 | N/A | |
Fade | Robert Cormier | 1988 | N/A | 65 | |
Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury | 1953 | 69 | N/A | |
Fallen Angels | Walter Dean Myers | 1988 | 11 | 36 | |
Family Secrets | Norma Klein | 1985 | N/A | 76 | |
A Farewell to Arms[6] | Ernest Hemingway | 1929 | N/A | N/A | |
Fat Kid Rules the World | KL Going | 2003 | 58 | N/A | |
Fight Club | Chuck Palahniuk | Sexually explicit, Violence, Anarchist themes, smoking, drinking, etc... (This is true of all this authors work, but this the most read of his works.) | |||
Fifty Shades of Grey[5] | E. L. James | Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”). | 2011 | N/A | N/A |
The Fighting Ground | Avi | 1984 | 42 | N/A | |
Final Exit | Derek Humphry | 1991 | N/A | 29 | |
Flashcards of My Life[5] | Charise Mericle Harper | 2006 | N/A | N/A | |
Flowers for Algernon | Daniel Keyes | 1966 | N/A | 43 | |
For Whom the Bell Tolls[6] | Ernest Hemingway | 1940 | N/A | N/A | |
Forever... | Judy Blume | 1975 | 16 | 7 | |
Friday Night Lights | H. G. Bissinger | 1990 | 89 | N/A | |
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic | Alison Bechdel | Violence and other (“graphic images”). | 2006 | ||
The Giver | Lois Lowry | 1993 | 23 | 11 | |
Girls and Sex | Wardell Pomeroy | 1970 | N/A | 98 | |
The Glass Castle[5] | Jeannette Walls | 2005 | N/A | N/A | |
Go Ask Alice | Beatrice Sparks | 1971 | 18 | 25 | |
Go Tell It on the Mountain[6] | James Baldwin | 1953 | N/A | N/A | |
The Goats | Brock Cole | 1987 | N/A | 26 | |
Gone with the Wind[6] | Margaret Mitchell | 1936 | N/A | N/A | |
Goosebumps (series) | R. L. Stine | 1992–1997 | 94 | 15 | |
Gossip Girl (series) | Cecily von Ziegesar | 2002–2011 | 22 | N/A | |
The Grapes of Wrath[6] | John Steinbeck | 1939 | N/A | N/A | |
The Great Gatsby[6] | F. Scott Fitzgerald | 1925 | N/A | N/A | |
The Great Gilly Hopkins | Katherine Paterson | 1978 | 52 | 20 | |
Grendel | John Gardner | 1971 | 96 | N/A | |
Guess What? | Mem Fox | 1990 | N/A | 66 | |
Habibi | Craig Thompson | Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. | 2011 | ||
Halloween ABC | Eve Merriam | 1987 | N/A | 31 | |
The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood | 1985 | 88 | 37 | |
Harris and Me | Gary Paulsen | 1993 | 70 | N/A | |
Harry Potter (series) | J. K. Rowling | 1997–2007 | 1 | 48 | |
Heather Has Two Mommies | Lesléa Newman | 1989 | N/A | 9 | |
His Dark Materials (series) | Philip Pullman | 1995–2000 | 8 | N/A | |
The House of the Spirits | Isabel Allende | 1982 | 97 | 73 | |
The Hunger Games[5] | Suzanne Collins | 2008–2010 | N/A | N/A | |
I Am Jazz | Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings | Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group. | 2014 | ||
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Maya Angelou | 1969 | 6 | 3 | |
I Saw Esau | Iona Opie, Peter Opie | 2000 | 98 | N/A | |
In Cold Blood[6] | Truman Capote | 1966 | N/A | N/A | |
In the Night Kitchen | Maurice Sendak | 1970 | 24 | 21 | |
Invisible Man[6] | Ralph Ellison | 1952 | N/A | N/A | |
It's Perfectly Normal | Robie Harris | 1994 | 12 | 13 | |
It's So Amazing | Robie Harris | 1999 | 37 | N/A | |
Jack | A. M. Homes | 1990 | N/A | 74 | |
James and the Giant Peach | Roald Dahl | 1961 | N/A | 50 | |
The Joy of Gay Sex | Charles Silverstein, Edmund White | 1977 | 78 | N/A | |
Julie of the Wolves | Jean Craighead George | 1972 | 91 | 32 | |
Jump Ship to Freedom | James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier | 1981 | N/A | 100 | |
Jumper | Steven Gould | 1992 | N/A | 94 | |
The Jungle[6] | Upton Sinclair | 1906 | N/A | N/A | |
Junie B. Jones (series) | Barbara Park | 1992–2011 | 71 | N/A | |
Kaffir Boy | Mark Mathabane | 1986 | 39 | 33 | |
Killing Mr. Griffin | Lois Duncan | 1978 | 25 | 64 | |
King & King | Linda De Haan, Stern Nijland | 2002 | 20 | N/A | |
The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | 2003 | 50 | N/A | |
Lady Chatterley's Lover[6] | D. H. Lawrence | 1928 | N/A | N/A | |
Life is Funny | E.R. Frank | 2000 | 40 | N/A | |
A Light in the Attic | Shel Silverstein | 1981 | N/A | 51 | |
Lolita[6] | Vladimir Nabokov | 1955 | N/A | N/A | |
Looking for Alaska[5] | John Green | Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. | 2005 | N/A | N/A |
Lord of the Flies | William Golding | 1954 | N/A | 68 | |
The Lord of the Rings[6] | J. R. R. Tolkien | 1954 | N/A | N/A | |
The Lovely Bones | Alice Sebold | 2002 | 74 | N/A | |
Lush[5] | Natasha Friend | 2006 | N/A | N/A | |
Mein Kampf" | Adolf Hitler | 1925 | N/A | ||
Mick Harte Was Here | Barbara Park | 1996 | 64 | N/A | |
Mummy Laid an Egg | Babette Cole | 1994 | N/A | 77 | |
My Brother Sam Is Dead | James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier | 1974 | 27 | 12 | |
My Mom's Having a Baby![5] | Dori Hillestad Butler | 2005 | N/A | N/A | |
My Sister's Keeper[5] | Jodi Picoult | 2004 | N/A | N/A | |
The Naked and the Dead[6] | Norman Mailer | 1948 | N/A | N/A | |
Naked Lunch[6] | William S. Burroughs | 1959 | N/A | N/A | |
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan | Jeanette Winter | Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence. | 2009 | ||
Native Son | Richard Wright | 1940 | N/A | 69 | |
The New Joy of Gay Sex | Charles Silverstein, Edmund White, Felice Picano | 1993 | N/A | 24 | |
Nickel and Dimed[5] | Barbara Ehrenreich | 2001 | N/A | N/A | |
Nineteen Eighty-Four[6] | George Orwell | 1949 | N/A | N/A | |
Of Mice and Men | John Steinbeck | 1937 | 5 | 6 | |
Olive's Ocean | Kevin Henkes | 2003 | 59 | N/A | |
On My Honor | Marion Dane Bauer | 1986 | N/A | 72 | |
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Ken Kesey | 1962 | 49 | N/A | |
Ordinary People | Judith Guest | 1976 | N/A | 52 | |
The Outsiders | S. E. Hinton | 1967 | N/A | 38 | |
The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Stephen Chbosky | 1999 | 10 | N/A | |
Persepolis (series)[5] | Marjane Satrapi | 2000–2003 | N/A | N/A | |
The Pigman | Paul Zindel | 1968 | N/A | 39 | |
The Pillars of the Earth | Ken Follett | 1989 | N/A | 91 | |
A Prayer for Owen Meany | John Irving | 1989 | 76 | N/A | |
Private Parts | Howard Stern | 1993 | N/A | 86 | |
Rabbit, Run[6] | John Updike | 1960 | N/A | N/A | |
Rainbow Boys | Alex Sánchez | 2001 | 48 | N/A | |
Revolutionary Voices[5] | Amy Sonnie | 2000 | N/A | N/A | |
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry | Mildred D. Taylor | 1976 | 66 | N/A | |
Running Loose | Chris Crutcher | 1983 | N/A | 92 | |
Saga (series)[5] | Brian K. Vaughan | 2012–present | N/A | N/A | |
The Satanic Verses[6] | Salman Rushdie | 1988 | N/A | N/A | |
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (series) | Alvin Schwartz | 1981–1991 | 7 | 1 | |
A Separate Peace[6] | John Knowles | 1959 | N/A | N/A | |
Sex | Madonna | 1992 | N/A | 18 | |
Sex Education | Jenny Davis | 1995 | N/A | 93 | |
Shade's Children | Garth Nix | 1997 | 95 | N/A | |
Slaughterhouse-Five | Kurt Vonnegut | 1969 | 46 | 67 | |
The Sleeping Beauty Quartet (series) | Anne Rice | 1983–2015 | N/A | 55 | |
Snow Falling on Cedars | David Guterson | 1994 | 33 | N/A | |
So Far from the Bamboo Grove | Yoko Kawashima Watkins | 1986 | 84 | N/A | |
Song of Solomon | Toni Morrison | 1977 | 72 | 84 | |
Sophie's Choice[6] | William Styron | 1979 | N/A | N/A | |
Sons and Lovers[6] | D. H. Lawrence | 1913 | N/A | N/A | |
Speak | Laurie Halse Anderson | 1999 | 60 | N/A | |
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes | Chris Crutcher | 1993 | 85 | N/A | |
A Stolen Life[5] | Jaycee Dugard | 2011 | N/A | N/A | |
The Story of Little Black Sambo | Helen Bannerman | 1899 | N/A | 90 | |
The Stupids (series) | Harry Allard, James Marshall | 1974–1989 | 62 | 27 | |
Summer of My German Soldier | Bette Greene | 1973 | 55 | 88 | |
The Sun Also Rises[6] | Ernest Hemingway | 1926 | N/A | N/A | |
Taming the Star Runner[5] | S. E. Hinton | 1988 | N/A | N/A | |
The Terrorist | Caroline B. Cooney | 1997 | 63 | N/A | |
That Was Then, This Is Now | S. E. Hinton | 1971 | N/A | 97 | |
Their Eyes Were Watching God[6] | Zora Neale Hurston | 1937 | N/A | N/A | |
The Things They Carried | Tim O'Brien | 1990 | 65 | N/A | |
Thirteen Reasons Why[5] | Jay Asher | 2007 | N/A | N/A | |
Tiger Eyes | Judy Blume | 1981 | 87 | 89 | |
A Time to Kill | John Grisham | 1989 | 67 | N/A | |
To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee | 1960 | 21 | 40 | |
Tropic of Cancer[6] | Henry Miller | 1934 | N/A | N/A | |
ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series) | Lauren Myracle | 2004–2007 | 9 | N/A | |
Twilight (series)[5] | Stephenie Meyer | 2005–2008 | N/A | N/A | |
Two Boys Kissing | David Levithan | Homosexuality and other (“condones public displays of affection”). | 2013 | ||
Ulysses[6] | James Joyce | 1922 | N/A | N/A | |
Uncle Bobby's Wedding[5] | Sarah S. Brannen | 2008 | N/A | N/A | |
The Upstairs Room | Johanna Reiss | 1972 | 79 | N/A | |
We All Fall Down | Robert Cormier | 1991 | 30 | 41 | |
Whale Talk | Chris Crutcher | 2001 | 41 | N/A | |
What My Mother Doesn't Know | Sonya Sones | 2001 | 31 | N/A | |
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys | Lynda Madaras | 1987/2007 | N/A | 58 | |
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls | Lynda Madaras | 1987/2007 | 73 | 35 | |
When Dad Killed Mom | Julius Lester | 2001 | 56 | N/A | |
Where Did I Come From? | Peter Mayle | 1973 | N/A | 79 | |
Where's Waldo? | Martin Handford | 1987 | N/A | 87 | |
The Wish Giver | Bill Brittain | 1983 | N/A | 99 | |
The Witches | Roald Dahl | 1983 | N/A | 22 | |
Women in Love[6] | D. H. Lawrence | 1920 | N/A | N/A | |
Women on Top | Nancy Friday | 1991 | N/A | 70 | |
A Wrinkle in Time | Madeleine L'Engle | 1963 | 90 | 23 | |
You Hear Me? | Betsy Franco | 2000 | 53 | N/A |
Note: The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ "Banned & Challenged Books". American Library Association. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ↑ "About Banned & Challenged Books". American Library Association. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ↑ "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009". American Library Association. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ↑ "100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999". American Library Association. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "Top ten frequently challenged books lists of the 21st century". American Library Association. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 "Banned & Challenged Classics". American Library Association. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ↑ "100 most frequently challenged books by decade | Banned & Challenged Books". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
External links
- Banned & Challenged Books at the American Library Association website