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Overview
Please join members of ALA-UTK and other SIS students in reading the top 10 most banned and challenged books of 2023. If you can make it through the top 10, try some of the suggested "bonus books" that were among the most frequently challenged of 2021 and 2022!
All information regarding number of challenges, reasons for challenges, and author/title summaries are from ALA's Banned & Challenged Books and Book Résumés.
From https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
All information regarding number of challenges, reasons for challenges, and author/title summaries are from ALA's Banned & Challenged Books and Book Résumés.
From https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
The American Library Association condemns censorship and works to defend each person's right to read under the First Amendment and to ensure free access to information. Every year, ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from reports filed by library professionals and community members, as well as news stories published throughout the United States.
Because many book challenges are not reported to the ALA or covered by the press, the Top Most Challenged Books lists and data compiled by ALA represent only a snapshot of book challenges. A challenge to a book may be resolved in favor of retaining the book in the collection, or it can result in a book being restricted or withdrawn from the library.
ALA documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023—a 65% surge over 2022 numbers—as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources. Pressure groups focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023.
ALA-UTK Banned Books Read-Along
15 participants (10 books)
Overview
Please join members of ALA-UTK and other SIS students in reading the top 10 most banned and challenged books of 2023. If you can make it through the top 10, try some of the suggested "bonus books" that were among the most frequently challenged of 2021 and 2022!
All information regarding number of challenges, reasons for challenges, and author/title summaries are from ALA's Banned & Challenged Books and Book Résumés.
From https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
All information regarding number of challenges, reasons for challenges, and author/title summaries are from ALA's Banned & Challenged Books and Book Résumés.
From https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
The American Library Association condemns censorship and works to defend each person's right to read under the First Amendment and to ensure free access to information. Every year, ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from reports filed by library professionals and community members, as well as news stories published throughout the United States.
Because many book challenges are not reported to the ALA or covered by the press, the Top Most Challenged Books lists and data compiled by ALA represent only a snapshot of book challenges. A challenge to a book may be resolved in favor of retaining the book in the collection, or it can result in a book being restricted or withdrawn from the library.
ALA documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023—a 65% surge over 2022 numbers—as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources. Pressure groups focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023.
Challenge Books
13
(bonus)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie
Top 10 most challenged books of 2022
Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
Sherman Alexie: 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. (Fiction, Young Adult)
Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
Sherman Alexie: 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. (Fiction, Young Adult)
14
(bonus)
Out of Darkness
Ashley Hope Pérez
Top 10 most challenged books of 2022
Challenged for: depictions of abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit
Ashley Hope Pérez: Out of Darkness is a work of historical young adult fiction, loosely based on an actual school explosion that took place in New London, Texas, in 1937. Ashley Hope Perez has taken the explosion as her backdrop and imagined a diverse cast of characters whose broken lives are utterly captivating and tragically entangled with the school and the explosion. The central story is that of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black. It’s a gripping novel about race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people. (Fiction, Young Adult)
Challenged for: depictions of abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit
Ashley Hope Pérez: Out of Darkness is a work of historical young adult fiction, loosely based on an actual school explosion that took place in New London, Texas, in 1937. Ashley Hope Perez has taken the explosion as her backdrop and imagined a diverse cast of characters whose broken lives are utterly captivating and tragically entangled with the school and the explosion. The central story is that of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black. It’s a gripping novel about race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people. (Fiction, Young Adult)
15
(bonus)
The Hate You Give
Angie Thomas
Top 10 most challenged books of 2021
Challenged for: profanity, violence, thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda
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. (Fiction, Young Adult)
Challenged for: profanity, violence, thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda
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. (Fiction, Young Adult)
16
(bonus)
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
Susan Kuklin
Top 10 most challenged books of 2021
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, considered to be sexually explicit.
Susan Kuklin: Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves. (Non-Fiction, Young Adult)
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, considered to be sexually explicit.
Susan Kuklin: Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves. (Non-Fiction, Young Adult)