Banned and Challenged Books

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.

Reasons: depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.

Reasons: drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, rape

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.

Reasons: depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.

Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content

Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQIA+ content

Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, rape

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term.

Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.

Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.

Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social age

Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term.

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community”

Reasons: Banned and challenged because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people

Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now”

Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity

Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term.

Reasons: Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote anti-police views

Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience

Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students

Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.

Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social age

Laugh out loud with Captain Underpants, the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Dav Pilkey, the creator of Dog Man!Fourth graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins are a couple of class clowns. The only thing they enjoy more than playing practical jokes is creating their own comic books. And together they've created the greatest superhero in the history of their elementary school: Captain Underpants! His true identity is SO secret, even HE doesn't know who he is!

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER **THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL, NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES** "Eerie, beautiful, and devastating." --Chicago Tribune "A stealthy hit with staying power. . . . thriller-like pacing." --The New York Times "Thirteen Reasons Why will leave you with chills long after you have finished reading." --Amber Gibson, NPR's "All Things Considered" You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows Hannah's recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever. Need to talk? Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) anytime if you are in the United States. It's free and confidential. Find more resources at 13reasonswhy.info. Find out how you can help someone in crisis at bethe1to.com.

Children's/Young Adult Winner 28th Annual
When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte, but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all. George is a children's novel about a young transgender girl written by American author Alex Gino. The novel tells the story of Melissa, a fourth-grade girl who is struggling to be herself to the rest of the world. The rest of the world sees Melissa as George, a boy. Melissa uses the class to play Charlotte's Web to show her mom that she is a girl by switching roles with her best friend and playing the part of Charlotte. The novel has been subject to much literary analysis, including articles from the Journal of Children's Literature and the Lambda Literary Review. The articles discuss how Alex Gino uses their novel, George, to fill the void of transgender middle-grade literature. Additionally, Gino has a positive impact on both transgender and youth literature.

And Tango Makes Three is the bestselling, heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family. At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo get the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own. Selected as an ALA Notable Children's Book Nominee and a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, "this joyful story about the meaning of family is a must for any library" (School Library Journal, starred review).

From Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile and Sisters!Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon over Mississippi, she can't really sing. Instead she's the set designer for the drama department's stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen. And when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier!

It's time for a new generation of readers to discover the phenomenally bestselling and beloved series, told entirely in messages and texts. With a fresh look and updated cultural references, the notorious list-topping series is ready for the iPhone generation. First published in 2004 (holy moly!), ttyl and its sequels follow the ups and downs of high school for the winsome threesome, three very different but very close friends: wild Maddie (mad maddie), bubbly Angela (SnowAngel), and reserved Zoe (zoegirl). Through teacher crushes, cross-country moves, bossy Queen Bees, incriminating party pics, and other bumps along the way, author Lauren Myracle explores the many potholes of teenagedom with the unflinching honesty and pitch-perfect humor that made this series a staple of young adult literature.

The #1 New York Times bestselling novel beloved by millions of readers the world over. "A vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people [of Afghanistan] have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence--forces that continue to threaten them even today." -New York Times Book Review The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons--their love, their sacrifices, their lies. Since its publication in 2003 Kite Runner has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic of contemporary literature, touching millions of readers, and launching the career of one of America's most treasured writers.

The first novel in the worldwide bestselling series by Suzanne Collins!Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . . In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Now more than ever: Aldous Huxley's enduring masterwork must be read and understood by anyone concerned with preserving the human spirit "A masterpiece. . . . One of the most prophetic dystopian works." --Wall Street Journal  Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order--all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. "A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine" (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history's keenest observers of human nature and civilization.  Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as a thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New World likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites. 

Now a Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. The Handmaid's Tale is an instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (New York Times) The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

Mark Twain's masterpiece and the greatest of American novels. Tom Sawyer's best friend, Huckleberry Finn, takes center stage in this classic tale of boyhood adventure. Fleeing his drunken father and the civilizing influence of the Widow Douglas, Huck and the runaway slave Jim pilot a log raft down the mighty Mississippi River. The colorful characters and dramatic situations they encounter along the way--from bloodthirsty thieves lurking in an abandoned steamboat to a pair of aristocratic conmen dead set on robbing Arkansas blind--draw the two escapees closer together, until Huck is forced to make a fateful choice between Jim's freedom and his own salvation. One of the first major novels written in an American vernacular, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an essential part of the national identity. Its sophisticated treatment of serious themes such as the evils of slavery, the individual versus society, and the conflicting impulses of human nature, make it as vital and important today as when it was first published more than one hundred and thirty years ago. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Look for O'Brien's new book, American Fantastica, on sale October 24th "O'Brien has written a vital, important book--a book that matters not only to the reader interested in Vietnam, but to anyone interested in the craft of writing as well."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O'Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. Taught everywhere--from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing--it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Fiction Winner 1988
Toni Morrison, the author of Song of Solomon and Tar Baby, is a writer of remarkable powers: her novels, brilliantly acclaimed for their passion, their dazzling language, and their lyric and emotional force, combine the unassailable truths of experience and emotion with the vision of legend and imagination. It is the story, set in post-Civil War Ohio--of Sethe, an escaped slave who has risked death in order to wrench herself from a living death; who has lost a husband and buried a child; who has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad: a woman of "iron eyes and backbone to match." Sethe lives in a small house on the edge of town with her daughter, Denver, her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, and a disturbing, mesmerizing intruder who calls herself Beloved. Sethe works at "beating back the past," but it is alive in all of them. It keeps Denver fearful of straying from the house. It fuels the sadness that has settled into Baby Suggs' "desolated center where the self that was no self-made it's home." And to Sethe, the past makes itself heard and felt incessant: in memories that both haunt and soothe her...in the arrival of Paul D. (There was something blessed in his manner. Women saw him and wanted to weep), one of her fellow slaves on the farm where she had once been kept, in the vivid and painfully cathartic stories she and Paul D tell each other of their years in captivity, of their glimpses of freedom, and most powerfully, in the apparition of Beloved, whose eyes are expressionless at their deepest point, whose doomed childhood belongs to the hideous logic of slavery and who, as a daughter, sister, and seductress, has now come from the "place over there" to claim retribution for what she lost and for what was taken from her. Sethe's struggle to keep Beloved from gaining full possession of her present, and to throw off the long, dark legacy of her past, is at the center of this profoundly affecting and startling novel. But its intensity and resonance of feeling, and the boldness of its narrative, lift it beyond its particulars so that it speaks to our experience as an entire nation with a past of both abominable and ennobling circumstance. In Beloved, Toni Morrison has given us a great American novel. Toni Morrison was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Literature for Beloved.

The "brilliant, funny, meaningful novel" (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions of readers around the world a lifelong love of books. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caufield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days.

Fiction-Hardcover Winner 1983
The lives of two sisters, Nettie, a missionary in Africa, and Celie, a southern woman married to a man she hates, are revealed in a series of letters exchanged over thirty years. Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, despised by the society around her, and abused by her own family. She strives to protect her sister, Nettie, from a similar fate, and while Nettie escapes to a new life as a missionary in Africa, Celie is left behind without her best friend and confidante, married off to an older suitor, and sentenced to a life alone with a harsh and brutal husband. In an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear, Celie begins writing letters directly to God. The letters, spanning twenty years, record a journey of self-discovery and empowerment guided by the light of a few strong women. She meets Shug Avery, her husband’s mistress and a jazz singer with a zest for life, and her stepson’s wife, Sophia, who challenges her to fight for independence. And though the many letters from Celie’s sister are hidden by her husband, Nettie’s unwavering support will prove to be the most breathtaking of all.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A modern classic--both poignant and funny--about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world. "Disorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.... Suspenseful and harrowing." --The New York Times Book Review Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.