Pick up a few of the titles on this banned books list to read during Banned Books Week this year for a mini reading challenge.
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Book bans and challenges aren’t new. If you’re a reader, odds are you have read a book that was reviewed for concerns somewhere.
Many of the books I read as a kid – A Wrinkle in Time, Goosebumps, Harry Potter – are on the long list. And high school required reading for English classes tends to include classics that were challenged long ago – like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
If you’re looking for ways to recognize Banned Books Week, check with your library or school to find local events. Or simply pick up a book and read. Many of the books on this list are written for teens, so this is a great opportunity to read and discuss books your child is interested in!
Each year the American Library Association puts together a list of the most often banned or challenged books for the year.
For this banned books list, I checked the list of the top challenged books in 2022 and compared it to the list of books currently being reviewed by my own school district, Fort Worth ISD. (The ALA list actually includes 13 books due to a few ties, but 11 of those were also on the FWISD list.)
Then I did some digging to find classics and older books that are frequently challenged or banned. These are a great place to start if you’re looking for ideas for a book reading challenge.
Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness event organized by the American Library Association. It usually takes place the last week in September or the first week in October.
The goal is to draw attention to books that are banned (removed from a location) and challenged (asked for removal) and to encourage thoughtful discussion on what books are controversial and why. It has also become a celebration of books that were challenged, but not been removed from shelves due to the work of readers, librarians, and students.
Banned books reading list
Note: The reading levels I’ve used below are from each book’s publisher. They’re usually based on reading ability and broad age-level themes.
Gender Queer: A Memoir
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Reading level:
Older teens and adults (The publisher is not US-based so does not follow US guidelines)
What’s the book about?
This is a nonfiction autobiography in graphic novel form. The author is nonbinary and uses e/em/eir pronouns. This story follows eir life from childhood through early 20s, including puberty and other significant life experiences.
Why is it challenged or banned?
Because it’s a graphic novel, everything is illustrated. That includes some teen fantasizing and romantic relationships.
All Boys Aren’t Blue
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
This is a collection of personal essays about growing up Black and queer in America. The author, who is a journalist and uses they/them, covers topics like gender identity, toxic masculinity, family, and consent.
Why is it challenged or banned?
This book includes LGBTQ content, profanity, and descriptions of sexual relationships and assault.
The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reading level:
Lexile 920, 8th grade (Published in 1970, this book doesn’t use modern age levels)
What’s the book about?
An 11-year-old Black girl growing up in the 1940s is constantly told she is ugly and wishes for blue eyes like white girls. She experiences poverty, racism, and abuse that lead to shame and mental illness.
Why is it challenged or banned?
This is not a happy story; it is about racism and the main character is assaulted by her father and experiences a miscarriage.
Flamer
Flamer by Mike Curato
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
During the summer between middle school and high school, a boy spends a week at a Boy Scout camp. There he tries to fit in with macho boys but writes to his pen pal about feelings he has for another boy. In just a week, he must go through an emotional gauntlet, including suicidal ideation, to find self-acceptance.
Why is it challenged or banned?
This book includes LGBTQ content and the vulgar things that 14-year-old boys often say and do.
Looking for Alaska
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
Four juniors at a boarding school build relationships until one suddenly dies in a drunk driving accident. The others must process their grief as they try to unravel whether the death was accidental or suicide.
Why is it challenged or banned?
The book includes profanity, sex, drugs, and alcohol.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
An introverted high school freshman tells his story about the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence in letters to a friend. Mixed with 90s pop culture references, he goes through friendships, romantic relationships, and family drama.
Why is it challenged or banned?
There are profanity, drugs and alcohol, and sexual scenes.
Lawn Boy
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
Reading level:
Adult fiction, 18+
What’s the book about?
A 22-year-old man is fired from a job on a landscaping crew and reflects on how growing up with racism and classism has set him up for failure – and he must take control of his own life.
Why is it challenged or banned?
This book includes LGBTQ content and specifically, a flashback to a childhood sexual encounter that haunts the narrator into adulthood.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
In this graphic novel, a Native American teen grows up on a reservation and attends an all-white high school. He struggles with bullying due to a disability, racism, and cultural differences with friends and fellow students as well as family tragedy.
Why is it challenged or banned?
There are instances of violence, profanity, and sexual references.
Out of Darkness
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
In a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, a Mexican-American girl and Black boy are star-crossed lovers in a segregated Texas town in the 1930s.
Why is it challenged or banned?
There are depictions of racism and abuse, including sexual comments as harassment.
A Court of Mist and Fury
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (Note that this is the 2nd book in a series.)
Reading level:
Adult fantasy/romance, 18+
What’s the book about?
In the first book (A Court of Thorns and Roses) a mortal woman kills a faerie and is brought to the faerie realm, where she has an enemies-to-lovers relationship with another faerie. In this one, she must navigate romance and politics, face her own choices, and fight a greater evil.
Why is it challenged or banned?
Although it is often on YA lists, this is an adult book with adult sexual scenes.
Crank
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Reading level:
YA, 13-19
What’s the book about?
A straight-A student visits her father for the summer and left alone, she befriends a boy and tries meth. She quickly becomes addicted and her life spirals out of control with unhealthy relationships, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy.
Why is it challenged or banned?
Although written to negatively depict drug abuse and its consequences, it has been banned for including drugs, sex, and profanity.
More Books to Read
These classic and popular books have also frequently been challenged or banned.
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
- Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
- The Witches, by Roald Dahl
- A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
- Blubber, by Judy Blume
- The Outsiders, by SE Hinton
- The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald
- The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
- Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
- The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Haper Lee
- Beloved, by Toni Morrison
- 1984, by George Orwell
- Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
- The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by JK Rowling
- The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
- The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
- The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien
Be sure to save this post so you can come back and pick some more banned books to read when you’ve finished the ones you’re reading first!
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
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