Celebrate Your
Freedom to Read
Develop Yourself:
Expose Your Mind to a
Banned Book
National Banned Books Week
September 29th – October 6th
The First Amendment of the
Bill of Rights of the United
States Constitution
The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 15, 1791
Why Banned Book Week?
More About Why?
Banned Books Week
Message
 The message of Banned Books
Week is more than a simple celebration
of our freedom to explore and express
unorthodox or unpopular opinions.
Banned Books Week reminds us that it
is our responsibility as citizens to
ensure the availability of those
unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to
all who wish to read them.
“The books that the
world calls immoral
are the books that
show the world its
own shame.”
- Oscar Wilde
Damage of Fear
Damage of Fear
“The ultimate expression of
free speech lies not in the
ideas with which we agree,
but in those ideas that
offend and irritate us.”
- Chuck Stone
Why Are Books Challenged?
Books are usually challenged
by people with good
intentions—to protect others,
usually children, from difficult
ideas and truths. Censorship
can be subtle, almost invisible,
or it can be blatant, but
regardless of the way in which
it is presented, it is always
harmful.
Why Are Books Challenged?
“Books and ideas
are the most effective
weapons against
intolerance and
ignorance.”
- Lyndon B. Johnson
Who Challenges Books?
 Throughout history, more and
different kinds of people than you
might first suppose, and groups of
all persuasions, have for all sorts of
reasons, attempted—and continue
to attempt—to suppress literature
and other forms of expression that
conflict with their own beliefs.
Who Challenges Books?
 In his book Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee:
How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor
Each Other, Nat Hentoff writes that “the lust to
suppress can come from any direction.”
“Fear of corrupting the
mind of the younger
generation is the
loftiest form of
cowardice.”
- Holbrook Jackson
Challenge vs. Banning
 A challenge is an
attempt to remove or
restrict materials, based
upon the objections of a
person or group.
 A banning is the
actual removal of those
materials
from
the
curriculum or library,
thereby restricting the
access of others.
Challenge vs. Banning
.
10 Most Frequently
Challenged Books of 2007
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, for
being sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to
age level.
9. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris, for sex education
and being sexually explicit.
8.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, for
being too explicit in the book’s portrayal of rape and other
sexual abuse.
7. TTYL by Laren Myracle, for sexually explicit, offensive
language and being unsuited to age group.
6. Color Purple by Alice Walker, for homosexuality, sexually
explicit, offensive language.
10 Most Frequently
Challenged Books of 2000
5. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark
Twain for racism.
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman for
religious viewpoint.
3. Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes for sexual
content and offensive language.
2. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier (the
“Most Challenged” fiction book of 1998), for
violence, offensive language and being
unsuited to age group.
The Most Frequently
Challenged Book of 2000
1. And Tango Makes Three
by Justin Richardson
for anti-ethnic, sexism,
homosexuality, anti-family,
religious viewpoint and
unsuited to age group.
“Don’t join the book
burners. Don’t think you
are going to conceal
thoughts by concealing
evidence that they ever
existed.”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Most Challenged
Authors of 2007
Robert Cormier
Peter Parnell
Mark Twain
Toni Morrison
Philip Pullman
Kevin Henkes
Lois Lowry
Chris Crutcher
Lauren Myracle
JoAnn Safar
Harry Allard
Paul Zindel
Judy Blume
Please note that the most frequently challenged authors may not appear
in the list of most frequently challenged books. For example, if every one
of Judy Blume’s books was challenged–but only once–not one of her
books would make the top 10 list, but she herself would make the most
challenged author list.
“Censorship reflects a
society’s lack of
confidence in itself. It
is the hallmark of an
authoritarian regime…”
- Justice Potter Stewart
WARNING!
Some people consider
these books dangerous!
Are you there God?
It’s me, Margaret.
By Judy Blume
 Challenged in many libraries
but removed from Gilbert, AZ
elementary school libraries
(1980), and ordered that
parental consent be required to
check out this title from the
junior high school libraries.
Was said to be profane,
immoral, and offensive.
To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee

Challenged
in
many
communities for language and
racial themes.
 Temporarily banned in Eden
Valley, MN (1977) due to the
words “damn” and “whore lady”
used in the novel.
 Banned from the Lincoln, TX
AP reading list (1996) because
the book “conflicted with the
values of the community.”
Where the Sidewalk Ends
By Shel Silverstein
Challenged in Xenia, OH school
libraries (1983) because the book is
“anti-Christian, against parental and
school authorities, emphasized the use
of drugs and sexual activity.”
 Removed from the shelves of Minot,
ND public school libraries (1986) by the
assistant superintendent “in anticipation
of a parent’s complaint.” Upon the
recommendation of a review committee
the book was returned to the shelves.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
By Mark Twain
 Excluded from the children’s room in
the Brooklyn Public Library (1876) and
the Denver Public Library (1876).
 Removed from school libraries in
London, England, by education officials
(1985) who found it “racist” and “sexist.”
 Confiscated at the U.S.S.R. border
(1930).
Blubber
By Judy Blume
 Challenged in the Perry Township,
OH elementary school libraries (1991)
because in the book, “bad is never
punished. Good never comes to the
fore. Evil is Triumphant.”
 Banned at the Clements High
School in Athens, AL (1998) because
of objections to two instances of the
word “damn” and one instance of the
word “bitch” in the novel.
Flowers for Algernon
By Daniel Keyes
 Banned in Plant City, FL (1976)
and Emporium, PA (1977) because of
references to sex.
 Challenged, but retained, in the
Yorktown,
VA Schools
(1996)
because a parent complained about
profanity and references to sex and
drinking in the novel.
 Removed from the ninth grade
curriculum by the Rayburn, GA
County Board of Education (1997)
because it was “inappropriate” for the
ninth grade.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By Mark Twain
 Banned in Concord, MA (1885) as
“trash and suitable only for the slums.”
 Dropped from the New York City
(1905) list of approved books for senior
and junior high schools, partly because
of the frequent use of the term “nigger.”
 The Pennsylvania NAACP called for
the removal of the book from required
reading lists (1998) across the state
because of racial language.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
By Maya Angelou
 Four members of the Alabama
State Textbook Committee (1983)
called for its rejection because
Angelou’s work preaches “bitterness
and hatred against whites.”
 Banned from the Dolores Parrott
Middle School in Brooksville, FL school
library and classrooms (1998) because
of a passage in which Angelou tells of
being molested and raped as a child.
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
 Banned from classroom use at the
Scottsboro, AL (1983) due to profanity.
 Removed and later returned to the
Suwannee, FL High School Library
(1991) because the book is “indecent.”
 Removed, restored, restricted, and
eventually retained in the Bay County
schools in Panama City, FL. (1997)
Catcher in the Rye
By J.D. Salinger
 Since its publication, this title has
been a favorite target of censors.
 Banned from classrooms at the
Boron, CA High School (1989) because
the book contains profanity.
Removed from the required reading
curriculum of Marysville, CA Joint
Unified School District (1997) because
of profanity and sexual situations .
Where’s Waldo?
By Martin Handford
 Challenged at the Public Libraries
of Saginaw, MI (1998) because “on
some of the pages there are dirty
things.”
 Removed from the Springs Public
Library in East Hampton, NY (1993)
because there is a tiny drawing of a
woman lying on the beach wearing a
bikini bottom but no top.
The Merchant of Venice
By William Shakespeare
 Eliminated from the high school
curricula of Buffalo and Manchester, NY
(1931) for anti-Semitism.
 Banned
from
ninth-grade
classrooms in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.
until the Ontario Education Ministry or
Human Rights Commission (1986)
rules whether the play is anti-Semitic.
Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary
 Removed from classrooms in
Carlsbad, NM (1982) because the
dictionary includes definitions of
“obscene” words.

Challenged In the Upper
Pittsgrove Township, NJ (1989)
because the definition of sexual
intercourse was objectionable.
Little House on the Prairie
By Laura Ingalls Wilder

Banned in Sturgis, SD
elementary school classrooms (1993)
due to statements considered
derogatory to Native Americans.

Challenged at the Lafourche
Parish elementary school libraries in
Thibodaux, LA (1993) because the
book is “offensive to Indians.”
Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
 Banned from English classes at
Spring Valley Community High
School in French Lick, IN (1981)
because of profanity.

Challenged, but retained, at
Egyptian High School in Tamms, IL
(1997). The play was considered
offensive by some because of
“profanity.”
More Banned Books
The Call of the Wild
By Jack London
The Firm
By Lewis Carroll
By Theodore Taylor
The Holy Bible
King James Version
By Sylvia Plath
By John Grisham
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The Cay
The Bell Jar
The Canterbury Tales
By Geoffrey Chaucer
The Diary of a Young Girl
By Anne Frank
Moby Dick
By Herman Melville
Then Again, Maybe I Won’t
By Judy Blume
Leaves of Grass
By Walt Whitman
Fahrenheit 451
By Fay Bradbury
Some Challenged Books
Ewoks join the Fight
I’ll Be Seeing You
By Bonnie Bogart
By Mary Higgins Clark
Congo
By Michael Crichton
Oliver Twist
By Charles Dickens
James and the Giant Peach
By Roald Dahl
Harriet the Spy
By Louise Fitzhugh
The Great Gatsby
A Doll’s House
By F. Scott Fitzgerald
By Henrik Ibsen
The Education of Little Tree
By Forrest Carter
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
By Judy Blume
A Wrinkle in Time
By Madeleine L’Engle
Read Banned Books