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BANNED AND CHALLENGED BOOKLIST
Since 1990, the American Library Association has recorded over 8,000 formal complaints about library materials. They estimate five times that number of complaints were handled informally or were unreported. The list below is drawn from the American Library Association as well as other sources. If you are interested in learning more about banned and challenged books, call your library!
Adult Nonfiction
Biography
Adult Fiction
Young Adult Fiction
Children's Nonfiction
Children's Fiction
Adult Nonfiction
The American Heritage Dictionary. (423 AME) A dictionary of the English language. Removed from school libraries due to objectionable language.
Bellesiles, Michael A. Arming America (363.33 BEL) 2003. This book tells how gun ownership in America is a recent trend, not a historical right. Banned for inaccuracies and political viewpoint.
Breton, Laurie. Final Exit (179.7 HUM) 1992. The practicalities of self-deliverance, assisted suicide and the right to die.
Brown, Dee Alexander. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (978.004 BRO). Written from the Native American perspective, it was banned as "un-American" due to its "slanted" point of view.
Confucius. The Analects of Confucius (181.112 CONFUCIU) 400 BC. The work contains Confucius's thoughts on a wide variety of subjects, including proper personal conduct, family relations, education, and government.
Dante, Alighieri. The Divine Comedy (851.15 DANTE) 1497. Prohibited by church authorities until all copies were delivered to the Inquisition for correction.
Fossey, Dian. Gorillas in the Mist (599.884 FOS). Hailed by scientists as a remarkable 14-year study of the endangered mountain gorillas, it was censored or banned in schools because of its descriptions of gorilla mating behavoirs.
Freud, Sigmund. Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (150.195 FRE) 1969. The Viennese father of psychoanalysis and free association, Freud hypothesized that the sexual drive (or "libido") lay behind many unconscious desires.
Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me (301.451 Griffin) 1962. A journalist leaves his privileged Southern white life, darkens his skin and immerses himself in black society until he can no longer stand the racism.
Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf (943.085 HITLER) 1943. Adolf Hitler's autobiography that contains his economic, social, and political philosophy, as well as his aims and his methods.
The Holy Bible (220.52 BIB)The Koran. (297 ROD) Both books have been removed, banned and burned by civil and religious authorities throughout history.
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (192.2 LOC) 1955. A theory of knowledge that was forbidden at Oxford University in 1701.
Matthiessen, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (305.897) 1983. American Indian political awareness and government relations with the Oglala Idians.
Wittman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (811 WHIT) 1855. A famous collection of poetry, withdrawn for the use of explicit language.Biography
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (BIO ANGELOU) 1969. A biography of the award winning African American author suppressed for racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language and unsuited to age group.
Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl (BIO FRANK) 1947. A young girl's diary describing the lives of eight people who hide to avoid arrest by the Nazis. Challenged by parents due to sexually explicit passages.
Adult Fiction
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale (FIC ATWOOD) 1998. The United States is portrayed as a religious dictatorship with women’s rights severely restricted. Readers have objected to this book on political grounds.
Auel, Jean M. The Clan of the Cave Bear (FIC AUEL) 1980. A novel about Prehistoric people during a glacial epoch with the female protagonist, Ayla. Challenged for its graphic sexual content.
Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange (FIC BURGESS) 1986. Depicts a harrowing journey through a near-future world of decaying cities, murderous adolescents and nightmarish technologies of punishment and crime.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (FIC DOYLE) 1929. English detective and mystery stories, banned for its references to occultism and spiritualism.
Elllis, Bret Easton. American Psycho (FIC ELLIS) 1991. A young, handsome man with a Harvard education and success on Wall Street has terrible urges for women, greed, and murder.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby (FIC FITZGERALD) 1953. A story about relationships in upper class Long Island, New York was challenged for its language and sexual references.
Gaines, Ernest. A Lesson Before Dying (FIC GAINES). Sex, violence and profanity have kept this 1999 CNY Reads pick out of some AP English classes.
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22 (FIC HELLER) 1961. A satirical story about world wars, set during World War II.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World (FIC HUXLEY) 1946. The story is a fantastic fiction, with propaganda, brainwashing and violence.
Kazantzakis, Nikos. The Last Temptation of Christ (FIC KAZANTZAKIS) 1960.Jesus, is portrayed as human and divine, but subject to all temptations, including sexual ones.
Lawrence, D. H. . Lady Chatterley's Lover (FIC LAWRENCE) 1928. This book was the object of numerous obscenity trials in both the United Kingdom and the United States up into the 1960s.
Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind (FIC MITCHELL). Objections to Scarlett's three marriages and business ethics and the book's offensive language prevented this award winner from appearing on high school reading lists.
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye (FIC MORRISON). Banned due to its sexual content and objectionable language.
Orwell, George. 1984 (FIC ORWELL) 1949. Set in a nightmarish (futuristic) London where the truth doesn’t exist, but “Big Brother” does.
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar (FIC PLATH) 1971. A dark autobiographical fiction about a writing intern at the beginning of her mental decline.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye (FIC SALINGER) 1951. A story spanning a few days in the life of cynical New York City teen, who has just been expelled from school. Edgy slang has kept this book on challenged book lists.
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle (FIC SINCLAIR) 1965. Poverty, disease, despair and barbarous working conditions in the slaughter houses of Chicago in 1900.
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels (FIC SWI) 1909. In fantastic lands, Gulliver meets little people, giants, men who live on a floating island and other creatures.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple (FIC WALKER) 1982. Pulitzer prize winning novel about African American family life, challenged due to sexual and social explicitness and troubling ideas about race relations, God, and human sexuality.
Winsor, Kathleen. Forever Amber (FIC WINSOR) 1944. Historical fiction suppressed on sexual grounds.
Young Adult Fiction
Blume, Judy. Forever (YA FIC BLUME) 1975. Two high school seniors believe their love to be so strong that it will last forever.
Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War (YA FIC CORMIER) 1988. A high school freshman experiences consequences of refusing to join in the fund raising drive, angering school bullies. Challenged for sexual content, offensive language and religious viewpoint.
Go Ask Alice. (YA FIC GO) 1971. A fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her struggle to escape the drug world. The author remains anonymous.
Myers, Walter Dean. Fallen Angels (YA FIC MYERS) 1988. A seventeen-year-old from Harlem experiences a devastating year in 1967 on active duty in Vietnam. Challenged for racism, offensive language and violence.
Peck, Robert Newton. A Day No Pigs Would Die (YA FIC PECK) 1972. A farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, matures early as he learns "doing what's got to be done."
Yep, Lawrence. Dragonwings (YA FIC YEP) 1975. A young Chinese boy in the early1900s joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine.
Children’s Nonfiction
Schwartz, Alvin. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat (J 001.9 SCH) 1974. Addresses superstitions about love and marriage, money, ailments, the weather, and death.
Willhoite, Michael.Daddy's Roommate. (PICTURE BOOK 306.738 WIL) 1990. A young boy discusses his divorced father's new living situation, in which the father and his gay roommate share chores, playing, loving, and living.
Harris, Robie. It's Perfectly Normal (J 613,907 HARRIS) 1994.A book about changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health.
Cole, Babette. Mommy Laid an Egg! (J 649.65 COL) 1993. Two children explain to their parents, using their own drawings, where babies come from.
Children’s Fiction
Blume, Judy. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (J FIC BLUME) 1970. Faced with the difficulties of growing up and choosing a religion, a twelve-year-old girl talks over her problems with her own private God.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (J FIC CARROLL) 1900. By falling down a rabbit hole, Alice experiences unusual adventures with a variety of nonsensical characters. Story contains expletives, sexual fantasies and derogatory characterizations of a teacher and religion.
Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (J FIC DAHL) 1987. Five children visit a mysterious chocolate factory. The tour brings out the best and worst in them. This book was challenged for supporting a poor philosophy of life.
Dahl, Roald. James and the Giant Peach (J FIC DAHL). One more of Dahl's classic tales that has been challenged by parents for it's violence toward adults and encouragement of children to lead "unhealthy lifestyles."
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia (J FIC PATERSON) 1977. A ten-year-old boy becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.
Pilkey, Dave. Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (J FIC PILKEY) 2001. Captain Underpants saves the world and the school from the evil talking toilets and the Turbo Toilet 2000. Challenged for offensive language and modeling bad behavior.
Rockwell, Thomas. How to Eat Fried Worms (J FIC ROCKWELL) 1973. Two boys set out to prove that worms can make a delicious meal.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J FIC ROWLING) 1999. Based at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power.
Sendak, Maurice. In the Night Kitchen (PICTURE BOOK SENDAK) 1970. A little boy's dream-fantasy in where he helps three fat bakers get milk for their cake batter. Challenged for nudity and offensive language.
Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (J FIC TWAIN) 1918. Suppressed on social grounds.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie (J FIC WILDER). Cited and banned for numerous derogatory statements about Native Americans.
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