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Banned, Burned, Challenged, & Controversial Books List

Top 4 Most Banned books

Bad For You  Abbi Glines 

Teen & YA Fiction about New Experiences

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The Covid Protocols: Upholding Your Rights in Authoritarian Times Abdiel LeRoy

Christian Profit, Civil Rights Laws

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Go the Fuck to Sleep (Boxed Set)  Adam Mansbach 

Parenting & Families Humor

 

More Happy Than Not  Adam Silvera 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+ Romance

 

Ground Zero: A Novel of 9/11  Alan Gratz 

Children's Explore Middle East Fiction

 

Neonomicon  Alan Moore 

Horror Graphic Novels

 

A Brave New World  Aldous Huxley 

Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi/Dystopian

 

George  Alex Gino 

Children's Bullies Issues/Transgender/LGBTQ+

 

Rainbow Boys (series)  Alex Sanchez 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+/Dating/Sex

 

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale   ADDED 3/25/2022

Discrimination & Racism Studies 

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The Lovely Bones  Alice Sebold

Ghost/Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary

 

The Color Purple  Alice Walker

Black & African American Historical Fiction

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Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic  Alison Bechdel 

LGBTQ+ Graphic Novels

 

Scary Stories (series)  Alvin Schwartz 

Children's Scary Stories

 

Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology Amy Sonnie 

Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology

 

The Dirty Cowboy  Amy Timberlake 

Children's Western American Historical Fiction

 

The Hate U Give  Angie Thomas 

Teen & YA Fiction Black & African American

 

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl  Anne Frank 

Memoir/WWII/Holocaust

 

Go Ask Alice  Anonymous 

Drug Addiction

 

A Clockwork Orange  Anthony Burgess 

Dark Humor

 

Stuck in the Middle  Ariel Schrag 

Teen & YA Comics & Graphic Novels

 

Out of Darkness  Ashley Hope Perez 

Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Prejudice

 

Atlas Shrugged  Ayn Rand 

Contemporary Literature & Fiction

 

The Fountainhead  Ayn Rand 

Contemporary Literature & Fiction

 

Mavis Bone and the Fledgling Killer  B.P. Smythe 

Detective/LGBTQ

 

Nickel and Dimed  Barbara Ehrenreich 

Poverty Studies

 

American Psycho  Bret Easton Ellis 

Lawyers & Criminals Humor

 

Saga  Brian K.Vaughan 

Horror Graphic Novels

 

Almost Perfect  Brian Katcher 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+ Romance

 

From the Noble Savage to the Noble Revolutionary Carlos Rangel 

Political Freedom In Spanish

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Red White & Royal Blue  Casey McQuiston 

Gay Romance

 

The Breakaways  Cathy G .Johnson 

Children's Comics & Graphic Novels

 

Gossip Girl (series)  Cecilyvon Ziegesar 

Teen & YA about Class Differences

 

My Princess Boy  Cheryl Kilodavis 

Children's Transgender/LGBTQ+

 

Whale Talk  Chris Crutcher 

Teen & YA about Physical & Emotional Abuse

Sex Is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and YOU Cory Silverberg & Fiona Smythe 

Children's Sexuality Books

 

Habibi  Craig Thompson 

Teen & YA Fiction about New Experiences

 

Dreaming In Cuban  Cristina Garcia 

Magical Realism

 

The Da Vinci Code  Dan Brown 

Religious Mysteries

 

Prince and Knight  Daniel Haack 

Children's Folk Tales & Myths

 

Flowers for Algernon  Daniel Keyes 

Classic Science Fiction

 

Captain Underpants (series)  Dav Pilkey 

Children/Superhero

 

The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby  Dav Pilkey 

Children/Superhero

 

A Child Called It  Dave Pelzer 

Child Abuse/Memoir

 

City of Thieves  David Benioff 

Military Historical

 

Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story  David Levithan 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+

 

Two Boys Kissing  David Levithan 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+ Romance

 

Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying  Derek Humphry 

Suicide

 

Lady Chatterley’s Lover  DH Lawrence 

Romance

 

My Mom's Having a Baby!  Dori Hillestad Butler 

Children's New Baby Books

 

Fifty Shades of Grey (Series)  E. L. James 

Erotica/Romance

 

Tell Tale Heart  Edgar Allan Poe 

Classic, dark literature

 

Infandous  Elana K Arnold 

Teen & YA Fiction Dating/Sex

 

Burned  Ellen Hopkins 

Teen & YA about Physical & Emotional Abuse

 

Crank  Ellen Hopkins 

Addiction

 

Glass  Ellen Hopkins 

Addiction

 

Tricks  Ellen Hopkins 

Addiction/Prostitution

 

Draw Me a Star  Eric Carle 

Children's Art Fiction

 

All Quiet on the Western Front  Erich Maria Remarque 

Military Historical Fiction

 

This Day in June  Gayle E. Pitman; Kristyna Litten (Illustrator) 

LGBTQ history and culture

 

I Was Here  Gayle Forman 

Teen & YA Fiction about Suicide

 

All Boys Aren't Blue  George M. Johnson 

YA memoir

 

1984  George Orwell 

dystopian

 

Animal Farm  George Orwell 

fantasy

 

Year of Wonders  Geraldine Brooks 

Historical Australian & Oceanian Fiction

 

To Kill a Mockingbird  Harper Lee 

Classic Coming of Age Fiction

 

Michelle Obama: Political Icon  Heather E. Schwartz 

Children's US Presidents & First Ladies

 

Tropic of Cancer   Henry Miller 

Erotic Literature & Fiction

 

How to be an Antiracist   Ibram X. Kendi 

Human Rights

 

A is for Activism written and illustrated   Innosanto Nagara 

Children's Activism

 

House of the Spirits   Isabel Allende 

Hispanic American Literature & Fiction

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Antiracist Baby Picture Book by Ibram X. Kendi ADDED 3/25/2022

Children's Books on Prejudice & Racism

 

The Catcher in the Rye   J. D. Salinger 

Classic American Literature

 

Deliverance   James Dickey 

Psychological Literary Fiction

 

Ulysses   James Joyce 

 European Literary History & Criticism

 

All American Boys   Jason Reynolds,  Brendan Kiely   

Teen & YA Fiction about Prejudice & Racism

 

Thirteen Reasons Why   Jay Asher 

Teen & YA Fiction about Suicide

 

I Am Jazz   Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel 

Children, Transgender, LGBTQ

 

Nasreen’s Secret School   Jeanette Winter 

Children's Explore Middle East Fiction

 

The Librarian of Basra   Jeanette Winter 

Children's Explore Middle East Fiction

 

The Glass Castle   Jeannette Walls 

Biographies of Journalists

 

Symptoms of Being Human   Jeff Garvin 

Teen & YA Fiction about Bullying

 

Bone (series)   Jeff Smith 

Fantasy Graphic Novels

 

Class Act   Jerry Craft 

Children's Prejudice & Racism Books

 

New Kid   Jerry Craft 

Children's Prejudice & Racism Books

 

Salvage the Bones   Jesmyn Ward 

Black & African American

 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl   Jesse Andrews 

Teen & YA Fiction about Death

 

Ghost Boys   Jewell Parker Rhodes 

Children's Black & African American/Violence

 

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo   Jill Twiss 

Children's LGBTQ+

 

Harry Potter (series)   JK Rowling 

Magic/Wizardry

 

Nineteen Minutes   Jodi Picoult 

Legal Thrillers/School Shooting

 

Looking for Alaska   John Green 

Teen & YA Fiction about Death

 

Of Mice and Men   John Steinbeck 

Classic/Psychological Literary Fiction

 

The Grapes of Wrath   John Steinbeck 

Classic Historical Fiction

 

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed   Jon Ronson 

Nonfiction/Medical Psychology History

 

Lawn Boy   Jonathan Evison 

Social class distinctions/cultural discrimination

 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close   Jonathan Safran Foer 

Teen & YA Fiction Classic Literature

 

Catch 22   Joseph Heller 

Literary Satire Fiction/Dark Humor

 

Skippyjon Jones (series)   Judith Schachner 

Children's Imagination & Play Fiction

 

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

Children's Jewish Fiction Books

 

Forever…   Judy Blume 

Teen & YA Fiction about New Experiences

 

By the Time You Read This I’ll Be Dead   Julie Anne Peters 

Teen & YA Fiction about Suicide

 

This Book is Gay   Juno Dawson 

young adult non-fiction book on sexuality & gender

 

And Tango Makes Three   Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell 

nontraditional family/adoption

 

King and the Dragonflies   Kacen Callender 

Children's LGBTQ+

 

Two Can Keep a Secret   Karen M McManus 

YA Thriller

 

Awakening   Kate Chopin 

Religious Fiction Anthologies

 

Bridge to Terabithia   Katherine Paterson 

Children's on Death, Grief & Bereavement

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest   Ken Kesey

Medical Fiction/Mental Health

 

The Kite Runner   Khaled Hosseini 

Asian American Literature

 

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein   Kiersten White 

Teen & YA Monster

 

Slaughterhouse-Five   Kurt Vonnegut 

Literary Satire Fiction

 

Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)   L.C. Rosen 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+ Romance

 

It’s a Book   Lane Smith 

Children’s Books about Libraries & Reading

 

Internet Girls (series)   Lauren Myracle 

Magic

 

Before I Fall   Lauren Oliver 

Teen & YA Fiction about Death

 

Broken Things   Lauren Oliver 

Teen & YA Fiction about Death

 

Speak   Laurie Halse Anderson 

Teen & YA about Physical & Emotional Abuse

 

You Should See Me In a Crown   Leah Johnson 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+

 

Heather Has Two Mommies   Lesléa Newman 

Children's LGBTQ+ Families

 

Go With the Flow   Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann 

female empowerment, & women's health

 

Fade   Lisa McMann 

Teen & YA Fiction Dating/Sex/Mystery

 

A Good Kind of Trouble   Lisa Moore Ramée 

Children's Black & African American

 

The Giver   Lois Lowry 

Children's/YA Dystopian Sci-Fi

 

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God  Louise Rennison   

Teen & YA Fiction Dating/Sex

 

Madeline and the Gypsies   Ludwig Bemelmans 

Children's Performing Arts Books

 

Feed   M.T. Anderson 

Teen & YA Sci-fi

 

A Wrinkle in Time   Madeleine L'Engle 

Children's Time Travel

 

House of Furies   Madeleine Roux 

creepy fantasy

 

Gender Queer   Maia Kobabe 

LGBTQ/Memoir/Graphic Novel

 

Last Night at the Telegraph Club   Malinda Lo 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+ Romance

 

The Handmaid's Tale   Margaret Atwood 

dystopian

 

Gone with the Wind   Margaret Mitchell 

Civil War/Romance

 

For Black Girls Like Me   Mariama J Lockington 

Children's Diversity & Multicultural

 

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin.

Children's Black & African American  ADDED 4/3/2022

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This One Summer   Mariko Tamaki 

Teen & YA Comics & Graphic Novels

 

Fairest: The Lunar Chronicles: Levana’s Story   Marissa Meyer 

Teen & YA Sci-fi

 

Persepolis   Marjane Satrapi 

Biographies & History Graphic Novels

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon 

Coming of Age Fiction

 

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn   Mark Twain   

Classic Action & Adventure

 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer   Mark Twain   

Classic Action & Adventure

 

When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball   Mark Weakland   

Children's Sports Biographies

 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings   Maya Angelou 

Autobiography

 

Weird Girl and What's His Name   Meagan Brothers 

Teen & YA Runaways

 

Queer: A Graphic History   Meg-John Barker and Julie Scheele 

LGBTQ Studies

 

On Thin Ice   Michael Northrop 

Children's about Disability

 

Suicide Notes   Michael Thomas Ford 

Teen & YA Fiction about Suicide

 

Whatever   Michel Houellebecq 

Humorous Literary Fiction

 

Flamer   Mike Curato 

YA Coming of Age Comics & Graphic Novels

 

Zenobia   Morten Durr 

Children's Comics & Graphic Novels/Death & Dying

 

Lush   Natasha Friend 

Teen & YA Substance Abuse Fiction

 

The Scarlet Letter   Nathaniel Hawthorne 

classic/romance/adultery/shunning

 

Bad Kitty (series)   Nick Bruel 

Children's Cat books

 

Ender's Game   Orson Scott Card 

Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi/

 

House of Night (series)   P.C. Cast 

Teen & YA Contemporary Fantasy/Vampires

 

In Our Mothers’ House   Patricia Polacco 

Children's LGBTQ+ Families

 

Story of O   Pauline Réage 

BDSM Erotica

 

Alice McKinley (series)   Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Children's Emotions Books

 

White Bird: A Wonder Story   R.J. Palacio  

Children's Holocaust Fiction Books

 

Goosebumps (series)   R.L. Stine

YA, Monsters

 

The Every Body Book: The LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families   Rachel E Simon   Children's Sexuality Books (Nonfiction)

 

Drama  Raina Telgemeier 

Comics & Graphic Novels

 

Eleanor & Park  Rainbow Rowell 

Teen & YA Fiction Dating/Sex

 

Native Son  Richard Wright 

Black & African American Literary Fiction

 

James and the Giant Peach  Roald Dahl 

Classic/Children's Humorous Action & Adventure

 

The Chocolate War (series)  Robert Cormier 

Teen & YA  about Peer Pressure

 

The Walking Dead  Robert Kirkman 

Apocalypse/Zombies

 

It’s Perfectly Normal  Robie H. Harris 

Sex, Gender, & Sexual Health

 

Bless Me, Ultima  Rudolfo Anaya 

Teen & YA Magical Realism Fiction

 

Milk and Honey  Rupi Kaur 

Poetry

 

Between Shades of Gray  Ruta Sepetys 

Teen & YA Holocaust Historical Fiction

 

The Outsiders  S.E. Hinton 

Teen & YA Social Issues/Violence

 

The Satanic Verses  Salman Rushdie 

Literary Satire Fiction

 

The House on Mango Street  Sandra Cisneros 

Hispanic American Literature

 

Push  Sapphire 

Black & African American Women's Fiction

 

Water for elephants: a novel  Sara Gruen 

20th Century Historical Romance

 

Jacob's New Dress  Sarah Hoffman 

Children's Transgender/LGBTQ+

 

A Court of Frost and Starlight  Sarah J Maas 

Mythology & Folk Tales

 

Uncle Bobby’s Wedding  Sarah S Brannen 

Children's LGBTQ+ Families

 

Women Without Men  Shahrnush Parsipur 

Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction

 

We Are the Ants  Shaun David Hutchinson 

Teen & YA about Depression & Mental Illness

 

A Light in the Attic  Shel Silverstein 

Children's Poetry

 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  Sherman Alexie 

Teen & YA Native American Fiction

 

What My Mother Doesn't Know  Sonya Sones 

Teen & YA Poetry

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower  Stephen Chbosky 

Teen & YA Fiction LGBTQ+

 

Twilight Saga Collection  Stephenie Meyer 

Teen & YA Vampire Fiction/Horror

 

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out  Susan Kuklin 

Transgender/Teen/YA

 

The Kingdom of Little Wounds  Susann Cokal 

Teen & YA Fairy Tale & Folklore

 

Hunger Games  Suzanne Collins 

Children's Dystopian Sci-Fi Books

 

Beka Cooper (series)  Tamora Pierce 

YA Fantasy/Magic

 

A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl  Tanya Lee Stone 

Teen & YA Fiction Dating/Sex

 

Freedom Writers Diary  The Freedom Writers 

Multicultural Education Methods

 

Be Gay Do Comics  The Nib 

LGBTQ+ Graphic Novels

 

Five, Six, Seven Nate  Tim Federle 

Teen & YA Theater Fiction

 

Better Nate Than Ever  Tim Federle 

Teen & YA Theater Fiction

 

The Things They Carried  Tim O'Brien 

Classic Fiction Anthologies & Collections

 

The Family Book  Todd Parr 

Children's Blended Families Books

 

The Color of Earth  Dong Hwa Kim   

Teen & YA Fiction Historical Romance

 

Beloved  Toni Morrison 

Black & African American Literary Fiction

 

The Bluest Eye  Toni Morrison 

Black & African American Literary Fiction

 

Lolita  Vladimir Nabokov 

Coming of Age Fiction

 

Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War: An Oral History 

Wallace Terry  African American/Vietnam

 

Leaves of Grass   Walt Whitman 

Classic Literature/Poetry

 

Malcolm X:  Any Mean's Necessary   Walter Dean Myers   

Teen & YA Social Activists Biography

 

Fallen Angels  Walter Dean Myers 

 

Monster  Walter Dean Myers

 

 

Naked lunch  William S. Burroughs 

Relationship of art and obscenity

 

Twelfth Night  William Shakespeare 

Classic/Essays

 

So Far from the Bamboo Grove  Yoko Kawashima Watkins 

Children's Homelessness & Poverty Books

 

Their Eyes were Watching God  Zora Neale Hurston 

Black & African American Literary Fiction

 

Little Birds  Anaïs Nin 

Erotica

 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  Rebecca Skloot 

Cell Biology/Medical

 

The Living Bible  Tyndale House Publishers 

New Living Translation Christian Bibles

 

We Rise,  We Resist, we raise our voices  Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson   

Children's Black & African American Stories

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