Book Bans
The American Library Association (ALA) has tracked book challenges—attempts to remove or restrict materials—since 1990. From 2021 to 2022, attempts to ban books had more than doubled from 602 attempts to ban 1,858 unique titles to 1,031 attempts to ban 2,571 unique titles in schools and libraries. By 2023, there were 938 attempts to ban 4,240 unique titles. These numbers dropped in 2024, with 821 attempts to ban 2,452 unique titles. [22][27][28][31][40][53]
The ALA has estimated that only about 3 percent to 18 percent of challenges are reported to its Office for Intellectual Freedom, meaning that the actual number of attempts to ban books is likely much higher. Sexually explicit content, profanity, and “unsuited to any age group” are popular reasons cited for requesting that a book be banned and removed from a library.[1][24]
In 2021, challenges were most frequently brought by parents (39 percent), followed by patrons (24 percent), a board or administration (18 percent), librarians or teachers (6 percent), elected officials (2 percent), and students (1 percent). However, by 2022, book challenges were being lodged by at least 50 organized groups, and state legislatures plus library and school boards were taking action to remove books from public schools and libraries, strategies that have continued and escalated. By 2024, 36 percent of challenges were brought by a school board or administration, with 26 percent of challenges brought by advocacy groups. Meanwhile, significantly fewer challenges were brought by parents (16 percent), elected officials or governments (10 percent), library patrons (4 percent), and teachers or library staff (1 percent). Another seven percent came from “other” or unknown entities. [30][41][42][53][54][57]
As the wave of book bans increased nationwide, bans on book bans themselves were passed in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, and Washington. [56][58]
In 2025, the Trump administration’s Education Department announced it would no longer pursue civil rights complaints about book bans. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Defense Department banned a list of books from the schools it runs on military bases around the world, including To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite Runner, A Queer History of the United States, and books in particular on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), gender ideology, and critical race theory. And an order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth banned almost 400 books from the U.S. Naval Academy, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and How to Be an Antiracist. [59][60][61]
As Kelly Jensen reports in “Most Parents Want School Libraries for Their Children—but with Restrictions,” a 2023 survey by Book Riot and the EveryLibrary Institute revealed that:
- 95 percent of parents believe every school should have a school library.
- 93 percent of parents believe their child is safe using the school library.
- 80 percent of parents trust school librarians to select age-appropriate material for the school library, while 82 percent trust school librarians to recommend age-appropriate material to students.
- 60 percent of parents believe school libraries should restrict access to books by age or require parental permission to check out a book.
- 57 percent believe that parents should receive notifications when a child checks out a book.
- 53 percent of parents believe they should be able to opt their children out of access to the school library, while 38 percent believe they should have to opt their children into access. [36]
While not a book ban per se, this parental right to “opt out” of having elementary-school children exposed to books and instruction dealing with sex, gender, and LGBTQ+ themes was at the heart of the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor brought by Maryland parents in 2025. The parents argued that the local school board’s refusal to give them the opt-out option violated their constitutional rights.
So. should parents or other adults be able to ban books from schools and libraries?
Pros and Cons at a Glance
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Pro 1: Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when. Read More. | Con 1: Parents may control what their own children read but don’t have a right to restrict what books are available to other people. Read More. |
| Pro 2: Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries. Read More. | Con 2: Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it. Read More. |
| Pro 3: Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids but doesn’t stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them. Read More. | Con 3: Books are portals to different life experiences, encouraging empathy and social-emotional development. Read More. |
Pro Arguments
(Go to Con Arguments)Pro 1: Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when.
Having books with adult topics available in libraries limits parents’ ability to choose when their children are mature enough to read specific material. “Literary works containing explicit [scenes, as well as] vulgar and obscene language” were on the approved reading list for grades 7–12, according to Speak up for Standards, a group seeking age-appropriate reading materials for students in Dallas, Texas.[4]
Exposing prekindergarten to fifth-grade students to sexually related books without parental permission was at the heart of the 2025 Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor. Attorney Eric Baxter, representing the parents, said “children shouldn’t be forced into conversations about drag queens, pride parades and gender transitions without their parents’ permission.”[62]
Moreover, if books with inappropriate material are available in libraries, children or teens can be exposed to books their parents wouldn’t approve of before the parents even find out what their children are reading. [16]
Bans are necessary because “opting your child out of reading [a certain] book doesn’t protect him or her. They are still surrounded by the other students who are going to be saturated with this book,” said writer Macey France. [17]
Pro 2: Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries.
Books in the young adult genre often contain adult themes that young people aren’t ready to experience. Of the top ten most challenged books in 2024, all ten were sexually explicit, four had LGBTQ+ content, two included depictions of sexual assault, two depicted drug use, and two included profanity.[18][27][55]
According to Jenni White, a former public school science teacher, “numerous studies on the use of graphic material by students indicate negative psychological effects,” including having “more casual sex partners and [beginning] having sex at younger ages.” [19]
The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that exposure to violence in media, including in books, can impact kids by making them act aggressively and desensitizing them to violence.[17]
“It is not a matter of ‘sheltering’ kids. It is a matter of guiding them toward what is best. We are the adults. It is our job to protect them—no matter how unpopular that may seem,” says Kim Heinecke, a mother of four. [19]
Pro 3: Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids but doesn’t stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them.
Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council noted that removing certain books from libraries is about showing discretion and respecting a community’s values and doesn’t prevent people from getting those books elsewhere: “It’s an exaggeration to refer to this as book banning. There is nothing preventing books from being written or sold, nothing to prevent parents from buying it or children from reading it.” [20]
What some call “book banning,” many see as making responsible choices about what books are available in public and school libraries. “Is it censorship that you’re unable to go to your local taxpayer-funded branch and check out a copy of the [fradulent document] ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’? For better or for worse, these books are still widely available. Your local community has simply decided that finite public resources are not going to be spent disseminating them,” said Weekly Standard writer and school board member Mark Hemingway. [18]
Con Arguments
(Go to Pro Arguments)Con 1: Parents may control what their own children read but don’t have a right to restrict what books are available to other people.
Parents who don’t like specific books can usually have their kids opt out of an assignment without infringing on the rights of others.
The National Coalition against Censorship explained that, “Even books or materials that many find ‘objectionable’ may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences.” [6]
In the 1982 Supreme Court ruling on Board of Education v. Pico, Justice William Brennan wrote that taking books off of library shelves could violate students’ First Amendment rights, adding that, “Local school boards may not remove books from school libraries simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.” [21]
Con 2: Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it.
Robie H. Harris, author of frequently challenged children’s books including It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex, and Sexual Health, stated, “I think these books look at the topics, the concerns, the worry, the fascination that kids have today.…It’s the world in which they’re living.” [8]
Many books that have long been considered to be required reading to become educated about literature and American history are frequently challenged, such as: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.[9]
Forty-six of the Radcliffe Publishing Group’s “Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century” are frequently challenged. Banning these books would deprive students of essential cultural and historical knowledge, as well as differing points of view. [9]
Con 3: Books are portals to different life experiences, encouraging empathy and social-emotional development.
One study found that reading J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which is frequently challenged for religious concerns about witchcraft, “improved attitudes” about immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and refugees.[11]
Another study found that reading narrative fiction helped readers understand their peers better and raised social abilities.[12][13]
A study published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology found that people who read a story about a Muslim woman were less likely to make broad judgments based on race.[14]
Neil Gaiman, author of the frequently challenged novel Neverwhere, stated that fiction “build[s] empathy….You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals.”[15]
Timeline: Key Court Cases
January 24, 1924 - Evans v. Selma Union High School District
Parent George Enos sued the Selma Union High School District of Fresno County (California) after the trustees sought to purchase 12 copies of the King James Bible for the high school library. Enos argued that the inclusion of the Bible violated the California constitution’s ban on religious instruction in public schools.
The California Supreme Court ruled that the inclusion of the Bible in the library did not constitute instruction or an endorsement of religion and, therefore, did not violate the state constitution. [46]
1949 - Rosenberg v. New York City Board of Education
The New York City Board of Education was sued for including Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Dickens’ Oliver Twist on the basis that the texts included unfair portrayals of Jewish people. The Supreme Court for Kings’ County dismissed the case, stating:
Except where a book has been maliciously written for the apparent purpose of promoting and fomenting a bigoted and intolerant hatred against a particular racial or religious group, public interest in a free and democratic society does not warrant or encourage the suppression of any book at the whim of any unduly sensitive person or group of persons, merely because a character described in such book as belonging to a particular race or religion is portrayed in a derogatory or offensive manner. [47]
June 12, 1972 - Todd v. Rochester Community Schools
A parent sued Rochester (Michigan) Community Schools for the inclusion of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five in the curriculum, arguing that the book was inappropriate and obscene, and that its reference to religion violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the school and allowed the book to remain in the curriculum. The ruling stated:
If plaintiff’s contention was correct, then public school students could no longer marvel at Sir Galahad’s saintly quest for the Holy Grail, nor be introduced to the dangers of Hitler’s Mein Kampf nor read the mellifluous poetry of John Milton and John Donne. Unhappily, Robin Hood would be forced to forage without Friar Tuck and Shakespeare would have to delete Shylock from The Merchant of Venice. Is this to be the state of our law? Our Constitution does not command ignorance; on the contrary, it assures the people that the state may not relegate them to such a status and guarantees to all the precious and unfettered freedom of pursuing one’s own intellectual pleasures in one’s own personal way." [46][47]
August 30, 1976 - Minarcini v. Strongsville (Ohio) City School District
Five public high school students, through their parents, sued the Strongsville City (Ohio) School District, the members of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of the district after the school board went against faculty recommendations and not only ordered Catch-22, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Cat’s Cradle be removed from the library, but also banned any teacher and student discussion of the books in class or any inclusion of them as supplemental reading.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the board’s actions were unconstitutional because it was not acting on behalf of educational concerns, and instead removed the book because it disagreed with the contents. [46][48]
June 25, 1982 - Board of Education, Island Trees (New York) Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico by Pico
Students Steven Pico, acting through his friend Francis Pico, brought suit against the Island Trees (New York) Union Free School District’s Board of Education. The board went against the recommendations of a parent and school staff committee and removed books it deemed “anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy,” including Down These Mean Streets, The Naked Ape, and Slaughterhouse-Five.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the school board in a 5-4 decision. Accordingly,
Although school boards have a vested interest in promoting respect for social, moral, and political community values, their discretionary power is secondary to the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment. The Court … held that as centers for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas, school libraries enjoy a special affinity with the rights of free speech and press. Therefore, the Board could not restrict the availability of books in its libraries simply because its members disagreed with their idea content. [43][46][47]
August 24, 1987 - Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education
A group of parents argued that the inclusion of religious information in textbooks was a violation of their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee ruled in favor of the parents. But, the ruling was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which held that exposure to ideas does not burden students’ right to free exercise of religion. [46][51]
November 29, 1995 - Case v. Unified School District No. 233
The Board of Education of Unified School District No. 233 of Johnson County, Kansas removed the book Annie on My Mind, which depicts a lesbian relationship between teen girls, from high school libraries. Students, former students, and parents sued the school board, alleging a violation of First Amendment rights.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ruled that, because the board was not acting on behalf of educational concerns, and instead removed the book because it disagreed with the contents, the removal was unconstitutional and the book had to be returned to library circulation. [44][46]
September 20, 2000 - Sund v. City of Wichita Falls, Texas
The City Council of Wichita Falls, Texas, passed a resolution that allowed the removal of any children’s book if 300 library cardholders signed a petition to move the book to the adult’s section. The resolution did not allow review or appeal. Library patrons petitioned to move Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate to the adult section.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that Wichita Falls’ resolution violated library patrons’ First Amendment right to receive information by removing or relocating books based solely on an objection to the content of the books. [46][47][52]
April 22, 2003 - Counts v. Cedarville School District
After a parent objected to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone being in the school library, the Cedarville (Arkansas) School District required that students have permission from their parents to borrow Harry Potter books. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas ruled that because the board was not acting on behalf of educational concerns, the requirement was in violation of students’ First Amendment rights and thus unconstitutional. [45][46][47]
2025 - Mahmoud v. Taylor
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for the case on April 21, 2025. Tamer Mahmoud and other parents sued Superintendent of Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools, Thomas W. Taylor, for including children’s books featuring LGBTQ+ content in the school system’s curriculum for prekindergarten to fifth-grade students, including Pride Puppy and Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. The parents were especially angered over the local school board’s elimination of the parents’ opt-out option, meaning parents were not allowed to excuse their children from such books and instruction.
The school system stated that the curriculum included:
a handful of storybooks featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer characters for use in the language-arts curriculum, alongside the many books already in the curriculum that feature heterosexual characters in traditional gender roles.
The parents suing allege that the books violate their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion because the books “promote one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning and focus excessively on romantic infatuation.” Lower courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, have ruled against the parents. [49][50]
100 Most Challenged Books by Decade
| 1990-1999 | 2000-2009 | 2010-2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source: ALA, “Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 1990-1999” (accessed April 16, 2025), ala.org | Source: ALA, “Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 2000-2009” (accessed April 16, 2025), ala.org | Source: ALA, “Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 2010-2019” (accessed April 16, 2025), ala.org | |
| 1 | Scary Stories (series) Alvin Schwartz | Harry Potter (series) J.K. Rowling | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie |
| 2 | Daddy’s Roommate Michael Willhoite | Alice (series) Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | Captain Underpants (series) Dav Pilkey |
| 3 | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou | The Chocolate War Robert Cormier | Thirteen Reasons Why Jay Asher |
| 4 | The Chocolate War Robert Cormier | And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell | Looking for Alaska John Green |
| 5 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain | Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck | George Alex Gino |
| 6 | Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou | And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell |
| 7 | Forever Judy Blume | Scary Stories (series) Alvin Schwartz | Drama Raina Telgemeier |
| 8 | Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson | His Dark Materials (series) Philip Pullman | Fifty Shades of Grey E. L. James |
| 9 | Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman | ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series) Lauren Myracle | Internet Girls (series) Lauren Myracle |
| 10 | The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger | The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky | The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison |
| 11 | The Giver Lois Lowry | Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers | The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini |
| 12 | My Brother Sam is Dead James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier | It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris | Hunger Games Suzanne Collins |
| 13 | It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris | Captain Underpants (series) Dav Pilkey | I Am Jazz Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel |
| 14 | Alice (series) Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain | The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky |
| 15 | Goosebumps (series) R.L. Stine | The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison | To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee |
| 16 | A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck | Forever Judy Blume | Bone (series) Jeff Smith |
| 17 | The Color Purple Alice Walker | The Color Purple Alice Walker | The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls |
| 18 | Sex Madonna | Go Ask Alice Anonymous | Two Boys Kissing David Levithan |
| 19 | Earth’s Children (series) Jean M. Auel | The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger | A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo Jill Twiss |
| 20 | The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson | King and King Linda de Haan | Sex is a Funny Word Cory Silverberg |
| 21 | In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak | To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee | Alice McKinley (series) Phyllis Reynolds Naylor |
| 22 | The Witches Roald Dahl | Gossip Girl (series) Cecily von Ziegesar | It’s Perfectly Normal Robie H. Harris |
| 23 | A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle | The Giver Lois Lowry | Nineteen Minutes Jodi Picoult |
| 24 | The New Joy of Gay Sex Charles Silverstein | In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak | Scary Stories (series) Alvin Schwartz |
| 25 | Go Ask Alice Anonymous | Killing Mr. Griffen Lois Duncan | Speak Laurie Halse Anderson |
| 26 | The Goats Brock Cole | Beloved Toni Morrison | Brave New World Aldous Huxley |
| 27 | The Stupids (series) Harry Allard | My Brother Sam Is Dead James Lincoln Collier | Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out Susan Kuklin |
| 28 | Anastasia Krupnik (series) Lois Lowry | Bridge To Terabithia Katherine Paterson | Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck |
| 29 | Final Exit Derek Humphry | The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline B. Cooney | The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood |
| 30 | Blubber Judy Blume | We All Fall Down Robert Cormier | The Hate U Give Angie Thomas |
| 31 | Halloween ABC Eve Merriam | What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones | Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel |
| 32 | Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George | Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo A. Anaya | It’s a Book Lane Smith |
| 33 | Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane | Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain |
| 34 | The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison | The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things Carolyn Mackler | The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien |
| 35 | What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters Lynda Madaras | Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison | What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones |
| 36 | Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers | Brave New World Aldous Huxley | A Child Called "It" Dave Pelzer |
| 37 | The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood | It’s So Amazing Robie Harris | Bad Kitty (series) Nick Bruel |
| 38 | The Outsiders S.E. Hinton | Arming America Michael Bellasiles | Crank Ellen Hopkins |
| 39 | The Pigman Paul Zindel | Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane | Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich |
| 40 | To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee | Life is Funny E.R. Frank | Persepolis Marjane Satrapi |
| 41 | We All Fall Down Robert Cormier | Whale Talk Chris Crutcher | The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey |
| 42 | Deenie Judy Blume | The Fighting Ground Avi | This Day in June Gayle E. Pitman |
| 43 | Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes | Blubber Judy Blume | This One Summer Mariko Tamaki |
| 44 | Annie on My Mind Nancy Garden | Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher | A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl Tanya Lee Stone |
| 45 | Beloved Toni Morrison | Crazy Lady Jane Leslie Conly | Beloved Toni Morrison |
| 46 | The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar | Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut | Goosebumps (series) R.L. Stine |
| 47 | Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat Alvin Schwartz | The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey | In Our Mothers’ House Patricia Polacco |
| 48 | Harry Potter (series) J.K. Rowling | Rainbow Boys Alex Sanchez | Lush Natasha Friend |
| 49 | Cujo Stephen King | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey | The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger |
| 50 | James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl | The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini | The Color Purple Alice Walker |
| 51 | A Light in the Attic Shel Silverstein | Daughters of Eve Lois Duncan | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon |
| 52 | Ordinary People Judith Guest | The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson | The Holy Bible |
| 53 | American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis | You Hear Me? Betsy Franco | This Book is Gay Juno Dawson |
| 54 | Brave New World Aldous Huxley | The Facts Speak for Themselves Brock Cole | Eleanor & Park Rainbow Rowell |
| 55 | Sleeping Beauty Trilogy A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) | Summer of My German Soldier Bette Green | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer |
| 56 | Bumps in the Night Harry Allard | When Dad Killed Mom Julius Lester | Gossip Girl (series) Cecily von Ziegesar |
| 57 | Asking About Sex and Growing Up Joanna Cole | Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause | House of Night (series) P.C. Cast |
| 58 | What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons Lynda Madaras | Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going | My Mom’s Having A Baby Dori Hillestad Butler |
| 59 | The Anarchist Cookbook William Powell | Olive’s Ocean Kevin Henkes | Neonomicon Alan Moore |
| 60 | Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume | Speak Laurie Halse Anderson | The Dirty Cowboy Amy Timberlake |
| 61 | Boys and Sex Wardell Pomeroy | Draw Me A Star Eric Carle | The Giver Lois Lowry |
| 62 | Crazy Lady Jane Conly | The Stupids (series) Harry Allard | Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank |
| 63 | Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher | The Terrorist Caroline B. Cooney | Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo A. Anaya |
| 64 | Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan | Mick Harte Was Here Barbara Park | Draw Me a Star Eric Carle |
| 65 | Fade Robert Cormier | The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien | Dreaming In Cuban Cristina Garcia |
| 66 | Guess What? Mem Fox | Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor | Fade Lisa McMann |
| 67 | Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut | A Time to Kill John Grisham | The Family Book Todd Parr |
| 68 | Lord of the Flies William Golding | Always Running Luis Rodriguez | Feed M.T. Anderson |
| 69 | Native Son Richard Wright | Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury | Go the **** to Sleep Adam Mansbach |
| 70 | Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies Nancy Friday | Harris and Me Gary Paulsen | Habibi Craig Thompson |
| 71 | Curses, Hexes and Spells Daniel Cohen | Junie B. Jones (series) Barbara Park | The House of Spirits Isabel Allende |
| 72 | On My Honor Marion Dane Bauer | Song of Solomon Toni Morrison | Jacob’s New Dress Sarah Hoffman |
| 73 | The House of Spirits Isabel Allende | What’s Happening to My Body Book Lynda Madaras | Lolita Vladimir Nabokov |
| 74 | Jack A.M. Homes | The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold | Monster Walter Dean Myers |
| 75 | Arizona Kid Ron Koertge | Anastasia (series) Lois Lowry | Nasreen’s Secret School Jeanette Winter |
| 76 | Family Secrets Norma Klein | A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving | Saga Brian K. Vaughan |
| 77 | Mommy Laid an Egg Babette Cole | Crazy Benjamin Lebert | Stuck in the Middle Ariel Schrag |
| 78 | Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo A. Anaya | The Joy of Gay Sex Charles Silverstein | The Kingdom of Little Wounds Susann Cokal |
| 79 | Where Did I Come From? Peter Mayle | The Upstairs Room Johanna Reiss | 1984 George Orwell |
| 80 | The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline Cooney | A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck | A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess |
| 81 | Carrie Stephen King | Black Boy Richard Wright | Almost Perfect Brian Katcher |
| 82 | The Dead Zone Stephen King | Deal With It! Esther Drill | The Awakening Kate Chopin |
| 83 | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain | Detour for Emmy Marilyn Reynolds | Burned Ellen Hopkins |
| 84 | Song of Solomon Toni Morrison | So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Watkins | Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card |
| 85 | Always Running Luis Rodriguez | Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher | Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers |
| 86 | Private Parts Howard Stern | Cut Patricia McCormick | Glass Ellen Hopkins |
| 87 | Where’s Waldo? Martin Hanford | Tiger Eyes Judy Blume | Heather Has Two Mommies Lesle´a Newman |
| 88 | Summer of My German Soldier Bette Greene | The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou |
| 89 | Tiger Eyes Judy Blume | Friday Night Lights H.G. Bissenger | Madeline and the Gypsies Ludwig Bemelmans |
| 90 | Little Black Sambo Helen Bannerman | A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle | My Princess Boy Cheryl Kilodavis |
| 91 | Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett | Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George | Prince and Knight Daniel Haack |
| 92 | Running Loose Chris Crutcher | The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar | Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology Amy Sonnie |
| 93 | Sex Education Jenny Davis | Bumps in the Night Harry Allard | Skippyjon Jones (series) Judith Schachner |
| 94 | Jumper Steven Gould | Goosebumps (series) R.L. Stine | So Far from the Bamboo Grove Yoko Kawashima Watkins |
| 95 | Christine Stephen King | Shade’s Children Garth Nix | The Color of Earth (series) Tong-hwa Kim |
| 96 | The Drowning of Stephen Jones Bette Greene | Grendel John Gardner | The Librarian of Basra Jeanette Winter |
| 97 | That Was Then, This is Now S.E. Hinton | The House of Spirits Isabel Allende | The Walking Dead (series) Robert Kirkman |
| 98 | Girls and Sex Wardell Pomeroy | I Saw Esau Iona Opte | Tricks Ellen Hopkins |
| 99 | The Wish Giver Bill Brittain | Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume | Uncle Bobby’s Wedding Sarah S Brannen |
| 100 | Jump Ship to Freedom James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier | America E.R. Frank | Year of Wonders Geraldine Brooks |
1-minute Survey
After reading this debate, take our quick survey to see how this information affected your opinion of this topic. We appreciate your feedback.
Discussion Questions
- Should parents or other adults be able to ban books from schools or libraries? Why or why not?
- Have you read any of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024? Should those books be banned or restricted? Explain your answers.
- Is book banning censorship? Why or why not?
Take Action
- Evaluate the “State of America’s Libraries” report from the American Library Association
- Consider “11 Banned Books through Time” at Encyclopædia Britannica.
- Analyze a pro–book ban argument from the Dordt University student newspaper.
- Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.
- Push for the position and policies you support by writing U.S. senators and representatives.
Sources
- American Library Association, “Banned & Challenged Books” (accessed September 18, 2017), ala.org
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