The last week in September marks Banned Books Week, a week long even that celebrated the freedom to read whatever you want, created by the American Library Association (ALA). It takes the time to highlight historic occasions at attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. Take a look at the 10 most banned/challenged books of 2019.
Celebrate your right to read by reading a banned/challenged book! If you are scratching your head at knowing where to start, you can check out the compile list, created by the ALA or choose these recommended books you find below:
Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls’ Rights
by Malala Yousafzai and adapted by Sarah J Robbins
Reason for ban/challenged: Depicting Violence
Black Widow: The Name of the Rose
by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuña
Reason for ban/challenge: Nudity, Sexually explicit and Violence
by James Dawson (now Juno Dawson)
Reason for ban/challenge: Several Wasilla, Alaskan residents attacked the book at a city council meeting saying that “they didn’t want ‘gay books’ or books about gay people in the library at all.”
The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq
by Jeanette Winter
Reason for ban/challenge: Challenged in the Duval County, Fla. public schools (2015) because a coalition of parents believes the book is inappropriate for promoting another religion that is not Christianity and is too violent for young children.
This One Summer
by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Reason for ban/challenge: A parent
about the graphic novel’s language.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
Reason for ban/challenge: Challenged as a summer reading
assignment in the Knoxville, Tenn. high school system (2015) because a parent claimed the nonfiction book “has too much graphic information.”
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel
Reason for ban/challenge: The novel’s “depictions of lesbian sexuality, arguing that the book
is borderline pornographic and they
shouldn’t have been asked to read it.”
