Challenged Books
Children's Literature: Challenged Books
A guide to assist in locating and researching children's and young adult literature.
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Staley Library's juvenile collection contains many of the children's and young adult (YA) titles on The American Library Association's (ALA):
100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000-2019,
Banned and Challenged Children's Books,
Banned and Challenged YA Books,
Banned and Challenged Classics,
Banned and Challenged Books with Diverse Content, and
Infographics and Statistics.
Take a look at the list and do a search by "Title" search in our Online Catalog search box (below) for the book you're interested in.
Included on this page:
Useful Websites for Dealing with Book Challenges
Authors Discuss Challenges to their Books
Most Frequently Challenged Books, 2020 @ Staley Library
Researching Banned/Challenged Books @ Staley Library
Databases for Researching Banned Books
Catalog Search Box
Search for books, articles, media, & more...
The American Library Association (ALA) keeps statistics on and creates lists of challenged books and authors. Books for children and young adults often comprise the majority of these lists.
The following books for (or often read by) children and young adults are on the list of the 11 Most Frequent Challenged Books of 2020:
George by Alex Gino
Call Number: JUV. PZ7.1.G566 Geo 2015
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, 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.
Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting "the values of our community"
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds; Ibram X. Kendi
Call Number: JUV. E184.A1 R49 2020
The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. Racist ideas are woven into the fabric of this country, and the first step to building an antiracist America is acknowledging America's racist past and present. This book takes you on that journey, showing how racist ideas started and were spread, and how they can be discredited
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
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds; Brendan Kiely
Call Number: JUV. PZ7.R33593 Al 2015
That's the sidewalk graffiti that started it all ... Well, no, actually, a lady tripping over Rashad at the store, making him drop a bag of chips, was what started it all. Because it didn't matter what Rashad said next -- that it was an accident, that he wasn't stealing -- the cop just kept pounding him. Over and over, pummeling him into the pavement. So then Rashad, an ROTC kid with mad art skills, was absent again ... and again ... stuck in a hospital room. Why? Because it looked like he was stealing. And he was a black kid in baggy clothes. So he must have been stealing. And that's how it started. And that's what Quinn, a white kid, saw. He saw his best friend's older brother beating the daylights out of a classmate. At first Quinn doesn't tell a soul ... He's not even sure he understands it. And does it matter? The whole thing was caught on camera, anyway. But when the school -- and nation -- start to divide on what happens, blame spreads like wildfire fed by ugly words like "racism" and "police brutality." Quinn realizes he's got to understand it, because, bystander or not, he's a part of history. He just has to figure out what side of history that will be. Rashad and Quinn -- one black, one white, both American -- face the unspeakable truth that racism and prejudice didn't die after the civil rights movement. There's a future at stake, a future where no one else will have to be absent because of police brutality. They just have to risk everything to change the world. Cuz that's how it can end.
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."
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Call Number: JUV. PZ7.A54385 Sp 2009
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
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.
Call Number: JUV. PZ7.A382 A27 2007
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct by the author
Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano; Marietta Collins; Ann Hazzard; Jennifer Zivoin (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV. PZ7.1.C4647 Som 2018
After discussing the police shooting of a local Black man with their families, Emma and Josh know how to treat a new student who looks and speaks differently than his classmates. Includes an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers that provides general guidance about addressing racism with children, child-friendly vocabulary definitions, conversation guides, and a link to additional online resources for parents and teachers.
Reasons: Challenged for "divisive language" and because it was thought to promote anti-police views
Call Number: PS3523.E4 T6 2010
A young girl growing up in an Alabama town in the 1930s learns of injustice and violence when her father, a widowed lawyer, defends a black man falsely accused of rape.
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
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck; Susan Shillinglaw (Introduction by)
Call Number: PS3537.T3234 O2 1994
Tragic tale of a simpleminded man and the friend who loves and tries to protect him.
Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Call Number: PS3563.O8749 B5
Pecola Breedlove, a young eleven-year-old black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dreams grow more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity.
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; Nikki Giovanni (Foreword by)
Call Number: JUV. PZ7.1.T448 Hat 2017
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life
Reasons: Challenged for profanity, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message
Other resources useful in researching banned books include these databases (try searching by book title and/or author's name, and include the words "challenged," "banned," or "controversy" in your search):
Useful for finding articles discussing book challenges in thousands of magazines and journals.
Wilson OmniFile Full Text Select
Use for articles discussing book challenges in thousands of magazines and journals, many different publications than Academic Search Complete.
Useful for articles discussing book challenges in education-focused journals and professional publications.
Useful for articles discussing book challenges in thousands of magazines and journals, especially from the librarian perspective.
Many organizations and individual authors provide assistance for teachers and librarians to deal with book challenges:
Banned & Challenged Books (ALA)
Materials about banned and challenged books, including statistics on frequently challenged books.
From the American Library Association.
Banned Censorship Toolkit (NCAC)
Tips for responding to challenges for teachers, school officials, librarians, parents, students, and authors. Includes sample letters and model policies and procedures.
From the National Coalition Against Censorship, includes a collection of materials on the topic of censorship in schools for the use of students, educators, and parents everywhere.
Book Challenges Report (NCAC)
A report on the "Kids' Right to Read Project" discusses book challenges across the country.
From the National Coalition Against Censorship.
Guideline on Students' Right to Read (NCTE)
A statement from NCTE in support of students' right to read, and tips for defending that right.
From the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Interview with Lois Lowry
A 2007 interview with author Lois Lowry, author of frequently challenged book The Giver.
From the Beacon Broadside.
Judy Blume Talks about Censorship
Blume, author of frequently challenged books like Deenie; Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; and Forever, discusses censorship.
From the author's official website.
Sample Book Rationale from Rick Riordan for "The Lightning Thief"
Author Riordan provides an example of a book rationale for his book Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Riordan also provides a teacher's guide for the book: http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/percy-jackson/resources/teachers-guide.aspx
Sample Teacher's Guides for Laurie Halse Anderson's Novels
A website for teachers interested in using Anderson's novels for the classroom. Includes information on censorship challenges, as well as information on research for the books, Anderson's writing process, discussion boards, etc.
Includes titles such as Speak, Wintergirls, Catalyst, Chains, and Fever 1793.
Support for Dealing with Challenges (ALA)
Includes: tips for conducting a challenge hearing, strategies for dealing with challenges, and a sample request for reconsideration of library resources.
Also, try looking for the author's official website, on YouTube, or other online publications. Many authors will comment when their books are censored.
Example: Author Stephen Chbosky commenting on challenges to his book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
Author John Green discusses challenges to his book "Looking for Alaska."
Staley Library owns many books exploring the reasons behind and history of book censorship, including the following (remember, Ref. in call numbers indicates a book in the reference collection):
120 Banned Books by Nicholas J. Karolides; Margaret Bald; Dawn B. Sova
Call Number: REF. Z658.U5 K35 2011
Banned Books, 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. by Annne L. Haight; Chandler B. Grannis (Compiled by); Charles Rembar (Compiled by)
Call Number: Z1019 .H151978
Banned Books Resource Guide by Robert P. Doyle
Call Number: REF. Z658.U5 D69 2007
Banned Books: Challenging our Freedom to Read by Robert P. Doyle
Banned in the U. S. A. by Herbert N. Foerstel
Call Number: Z658.U5 F64 2002
Book Banning by Ronald D. Lankford (Editor)
Call Number: Z657 .B73 2008
Censored Books II by Nicholas J. Karolides; Nat Hentoff
Call Number: PS65.C46 C45 2002
Censored Books by Nicholas J. Karolides (Editor); Lee Burress (Editor); John M. Kean (Editor)
Children's Literature Studies by Linda C. Salem
Call Number: Z1037.A1 S237 2006
Intellectual Freedom Manual by Trina Magi (Editor); Martin Garnar (Associate Editor)
Call Number: Z 711.4 .I57 2015
The Language Police by Diane Ravitch
Call Number: LB3045.7 .R38 2003
Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds by Nicholas J. Karolides
Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds by Margaret Bald
Call Number: REF. Z658.U5 B35 2011
Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds by Dawn B. Sova
Call Number: REF. Z658.U5 S68 2011
Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds by Dawn B. Sova
Obscene in the Extreme by Rick Wartzman
Call Number: PS3537.T3234 G895 2008
School Censorship in the 21st Century by John S. Simmons; Eliza T. Dresang
Call Number: LC72.2 .S56 2001
True Stories of Censorship Battles in America's Libraries by Valerie Nye; Kathy Barco
Call Number: Z711.4 .T78 2012
What Johnny Shouldn't Read by Joan DelFattore
Call Number: LB3045.7 .D451992
Issues Related to Book Banning/Challenges
Missing from the Shelf: Book Challenges and Lack of Diversity in Children's Literature
A report from PEN America (a nonprofit concerned with literature, human rights, & freedom of expression) discusses how persistent attempt to remove certain types of books from schools and libraries, along with "soft censorship" and publication trends, "narrows the range of stories and perspectives available to U.S. students."
It Matters if You're Black or White: The Racism of YA Book Covers
A post from YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) about "whitewashing" book covers (when cover art for a book depicts a white model instead of a person of color, as the character is described in the book).
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Email: refdesk@millikin.edu
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