BANNED. CHALLENGED. RESTRICTED.
These books have all been challenged in public and school libraries, with attempts to remove or restrict access to them happening within the last 4 years. Some of these challenges have been successful, with the books being removed from shelves. This selection includes fiction and non-fiction for children, teens and adults.
The explanations below describe objections cited by critics and challengers, they do not represent our views. All of these books are freely available to borrow from LibrariesWest. Borrow them, read them, make up your own mind.
Find out more at: indexoncensorship.org/bannedbooksweek
Children’s Books
‘Draw Me a Star’ by Eric Carle
Draw Me a Star is a colourful and entertaining picture book from Eric Carle, creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, that teaches children about drawing and creativity.
The artist begins by drawing a star, then the star asks him to draw a sun, and the sun asks him to draw a tree and soon the artist has drawn a whole world.
As children follow Eric Carle’s words and pictures, they will learn to understand and enjoy drawing themselves. This is the perfect book to introduce one of the essential creative activities of early childhood.
Why was it targeted?
Critics objected to an illustration of a nude man and woman, describing it as inappropriate or sexual.
Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
While riding the subway home with his Nana one day, Julian notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train carriage.
When Julian gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies and making his own fabulous mermaid costume. But what will Nana think about the mess he makes – and even more importantly – what will she think about how Julian sees himself?
Why was it targeted?
It has been targeted as a picture book depicting LGBTQ+ identities and themes.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie Logan can’t understand why her father is so proud of his land and farming his own crops. Her family refuses to sell their fields to a local man despite persistent pressure to do so, but for her parents the land is a symbol of sanctuary.
Over the course of a year, Cassie must learn about standing up for what’s right and picking your battles whilst she and her family navigate racism in its various forms; from the ‘night riders’ that terrorise her community, to the everyday prejudice that permeates life in 1930s Mississippi.
‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’ is a powerful story of family, self-respect and strength, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Jim Crow South.
Why was it targeted?
Critics objected to racial slurs and depictions of racial violence.
Rick by Alex Gino
Rick’s never questioned much. He’s gone along with his best friend Jeff, even when Jeff has acted like a bully. He’s let his father joke with him about which hot girls he might want to date even though that kind of talk always makes him uncomfortable.
And he hasn’t give his own identity much thought, because everyone else around him seemed to have figured it out.
Why was it targeted?
Critics objected to its representation of LGBTQ+ identities and sexuality.
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Twelve-year-old Jerome doesn’t get into trouble. He goes to school. He does his homework. He takes care of his little sister. Then Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat.
As a ghost, watching his family trying to cope with his death, Jerome begins to notice other ghost boys. Each boy has a story and they all have something in common. Bit by bit, Jerome begins to understand what really happened – not just to him, but to all of the ghost boys.
A poignant and gripping story about how children and families face the complexities of race in today’s world.
Why was it targeted?
Critics claimed it presented an anti-police message and questioned its suitability for younger readers.
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen – then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo.
A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers – to show ourselves to the world in bold colour. ‘I masquerade in makeup and feathers and I am applauded.’
Why was it targeted?
A challenge objected to sexual content, profanity and drug use.
Young Adult Books
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Charlie is a shy and introspective teenage boy, a wallflower always standing on the edge of the action. We learn about him through the letters he writes to someone of an undisclosed name, age and gender, a stylistic technique which adds to the heart-wrenching earnestness of the story. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating.
Charlie encounters many of the struggles familiar to everybody from their school days, from making friends, first crushes, experimenting with drugs and sexuality, but he must also deal with his best friend’s suicide and a shocking realisation about his beloved late Aunt Helen which challenges his very grip on reality.
Why was it targeted?
Challenges have cited sexual content, LGBTQ+ content, rape, drug use and profanity.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs.
The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.
Why was it targeted?
Critics have objected to profanity and violence, and alleged that the book promotes an anti-police message.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
17-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.
America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father – despite his hard-won citizenship – Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.
Why was it targeted?
Critics objected to descriptions of sexual content in the novel.
Heartstopper Series by Alice Oseman
This series tells the story of Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring, two teenage boys who meet at school and fall in love. The series explores themes including romance, friendship, coming out, identity and mental health.
Why was it targeted?
The books have faced objections over LGBTQ+ and sexual content.
What’s the T? by Juno Dawson
Discover what it means to be a young transgender and/or non-binary person in the twenty-first century in this frank and funny guide for 14+ teens.
In What’s the T?, Stonewall ambassador, bestselling trans author and former PSHE teacher Juno Dawson defines a myriad of labels and identities and offers uncensored advice on coming out, sex and relationships with her trademark humour and lightness of touch.
Juno has also invited her trans and/or non-binary friends to make contributions, ensuring this inclusive book reflects as many experiences as possible, and features the likes of Travis Alabanza and Jay Hulme.
Why was it targeted?
It has been restricted over LGBTQ+ and sexual content.
The Good Ally by Nova Reid
With social injustices rising in frequency, and an increase in far-right movements around the world, the rise in hate against ‘the other’ is palpable. There is an urgent need to change so that we no longer repeat patterns of behaviour that have led us to where we are.
What comes next is answered here. It’s a book for those wanting to become better allies, for those who are hungry to expand their knowledge and understanding of systematic racism, for those who not only want to be able to better recognise both subtle and overt forms of racism in action, but who want to know what to do about it.
Full of punch, humour and hope, and packed with examples and anecdotes, this book will help us unpick the myriad issues getting in the way of better inclusion, and will shows us how – with a bit of self-interrogation and a lot of courage – we can weaponise our privilege and be part of a powerful change.
Why was it targeted?
It was removed from a school library after allegedly being deemed inappropriate and discriminatory.
Adult Books
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers.
Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress…
Huxley’s ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterpiece.
Why was it targeted?
Objections have involved sexual content, drug use and religious viewpoints.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
In Anthony Burgess’ infamous nightmare vision of youth culture in revolt, fifteen-year-old Alex and his friends set out on a diabolical orgy of robbery, rape, torture and murder. Alex is jailed for his teenage delinquency and the State tries to reform him – but at what cost?
Burgess writes of social prophecy and free will in this black comedy.
Why was it targeted?
Challenges have objected to violence, sexual assault and offensive language.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
This is Britain as you’ve never read it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years.
They’re each looking for something – a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . .
Why was it targeted?
A school ban cited LGBTQ+ content, sexual content and race.
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
This is an explosive book examining the rise of secretive, extremist communities who despise women.
In this ground-breaking investigation, Laura traces the roots of misogyny across a complex spiders web of groups extending from Men’s Rights Activists and Pick up Artists to Men Going their Own Way, Trolls and the Incel movement, in the name of which some men have committed terrorist acts.
Drawing parallels with other extremist movements around the world, Bates seeks to understand what attracts men to the movement, how it grooms and radicalises boys, how it operates and what can be done to stop it.
Most urgently of all, she traces the pathways this extreme ideology has taken from the darkest corners of the Internet to emerge covertly in our mainstream media, our playgrounds, and our parliament.
Why was it targeted?
It was removed from a school library amid concerns about its political message and disturbing content.
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write.
At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, ‘Gender Queer’ is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, ‘Gender Queer’ is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity – what it means and how to think about it – for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Why was it targeted?
Challenges have cited LGBTQ+ content and claims that the book is sexually explicit.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
After years of cruel bullying from his classmates, Peter Houghton snaps one morning, and in nineteen minutes, ten residents of the town of Sterling are dead. When the case goes to trial, the reeling town is determined to seek justice for the innocents Peter killed.
But as the trial unfolds, Peter’s testimony casts light on the terrible role the residents of Sterling have played in turning a sweet, loving boy into a killer, and it isn’t long before Sterling’s illusions of innocence find themselves shattered forever. . .
Why was it targeted?
Challenges have objected to sexual content, violence and profanity.