Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom
to read, while also drawing attention to current and historical censorship
within schools and libraries. Although typically taking place during
September, Banned Books Week 2023 will be held October 1-7, 2023. The
theme of this year’s event is “Let Freedom Read.”
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.
Banning and censorship of materials leads to the loss of voices,
perspectives, and ideas that are often marginalized already. 2022 marks the
largest number of attempted bans since the American Library Association (ALA)
started gathering data about materials censorship.
By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or
restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the
harms of censorship. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)
compiles lists
of challenged books as reported in the media and submitted by
librarians and teachers across the country. The Top 13 (due to several ties)
Challenged Books of 2022 are:
1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by
Maia Kobabe
Number of challenges: 151
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+
content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
2. All Boys Aren't Blue by
George M. Johnson
Number of challenges: 86
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+
content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
3. The Bluest Eye by Toni
Morrison
Number of challenges: 73
Challenged for: depiction of
sexual abuse, EDI content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
4. Flamer by Mike Curato
Number of challenges: 62
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+
content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
5. (tie) Looking for Alaska by
John Green
Number of challenges: 55
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+
content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
5. (tie) The Perks of Being a
Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Number of challenges: 55
Challenged for: depiction of
sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually
explicit.
7. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
Number of challenges: 54
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+
content, claimed to be sexually explicit.
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Number of challenges: 52
Challenged for: profanity, claimed
to be sexually explicit.
9. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope
Perez
Number of challenges: 50
Challenged for: depictions of
abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit.
10. (tie) A Court of Mist and Fury
by Sarah J. Maas
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: claimed to be
sexually explicit.
10. (tie) Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: drug use, claimed
to be sexually explicit.
10. (tie) Me and Earl and the
Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: profanity, claimed
to be sexually explicit.
10. (tie) This Book Is Gay by Juno
Dawson
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content,
providing sexual education, claimed to be sexually explicit.
Look for ALA’s Top Challenged Books of 2023 list in April
2024! You can view preliminary data, through August by selecting the following
link:
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data
