For the past many years, during Banned Books Weak, I have put together a list of the top ten most banned books of the previous year. Out of 311 challenges (a slight increase from the 307 challenges reported in 2013) as reported by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, here are the top ten:
2014
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullyingâ€
- Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
, by Marjane Satrapi
Reasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agendaâ€
- And Tango Makes Three
, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issuesâ€
- It’s Perfectly Normal (The Family Library)
, by Robie H. Harris
Reasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: “alleges it child pornographyâ€
- Saga, Vol. 1
, by Brian K. Vaughan
Reasons: Anti-Family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
- The Kite Runner
, by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbationâ€
- A Stolen Life: A Memoir
, by Jaycee Dugard
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group
- Drama
, by Raina Telgemeier
Reasons: sexually explicit
Click these links if you are looking for the top 10 lists for previous years with easy links to Amazon: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001.
Additionally, in 2010, I put together a list of the 100 Most Banned & Challenged Books Of The Decade by aggregating several lists from the American Library Association.