Lee & Low’s Favorite Banned Books

Banned Book Week started yesterday.

For those of you who don’t know,

“Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.” –American Library Association

Here at Lee & Low Books, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite banned/challenged titles (in no particular order).

    1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – banned for use of racial slurs and profanity.
    2. Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling – banned for depictions of witchcraft and wizardry/the occult.
    3. the absolutely true diary of a part-time indianThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – banned for racism, sexually explicit language, and profanity.

  1. The Kite Runner by Khaleid Hosseini– banned for depictions of homosexuality, profanity, religious viewpoints, and sexual content.
  2. Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective – banned for language and “promoting homosexuality.”
  3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck– banned for profanity and sexual references.
  4. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle – banned for offensive language and use of magic.
  5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – banned for language. a wrinkle in time
  6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – banned for profanity, racial slurs, and “blasphemous language”,
  7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – banned for sexual content.
  8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – banned for drug usage, sexually explicit content and unsuited to age group
  9. Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Greene – banned for language and racism.
  10. The Giver by Lois Lowry – banned for “religious view point, suicide, unsuited to age group, and sexually explicit content.”
  11. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – banned for “violence, sexually explicit content, and being unsuited to the age group.”
  12. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich– banned for “drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, and religious viewpoint”
  13. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler – banned for “offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group.”the earth, my butt, and other big round things

Here are some other resources for Banned Book Week:

ALA: Frequently Challenged Books of the 21st century

Book Challenges Suppress Diversity

3 thoughts on “Lee & Low’s Favorite Banned Books”

    1. ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom tracks challenges that they have received from people all over the country. For example, a book might be on a summer reading list or in a library or classroom. A parent/guardian objects to the content of the book, and then that book is “challenged.” If the book is actually removed from a library, classroom, or reading list, then it can be considered banned.

      There really isn’t some large organization that bans books, but individuals or small groups.

      Hope that clears it up!

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