Banned Books Jr.
This children's book featuring an underpants-wearing superhero has been banned for encouraging disruptive behavior.
What is The Adventures of Captain Underpants?
This esteemed and widely read classic that focused on an unfair trial was banned for its racially and sexually charged themes deemed inappropriate for young readers.
What is To Kill a Mockingbird?
This young adult novel by Angie Thomas that deals with justice, identity, racism, and police brutality was banned for its vulgar language, adult themes, and anti-police messaging.
What is The Hate U Give?
This 1970s gangster novel was banned for its depiction of violence and organized crime.
What is The Godfather?
This novel follows a hobbit's quest to destroy a powerful artifact. It has been banned for its depiction of witchcraft, Satanism, and anti-Christian message.
What is The Lord of the Rings?
This children's book is challenged for the sinful nature of speaking animals.
What is Charlotte's Web?
This book deals with themes of censorship in a world without books.
What is Fahrenheit 451?
This YA dystopian trilogy centers around a teenage victor leading the rebellion against a corrupt Capitol. It has been banned for violence, rebellion against political authority, and offensive language.
What is The Hunger Games?
This novel by Colleen Hoover that was adapted into a 2024 film was banned for its depiction of sensitive topics like domestic violence, abuse, sexual content, profanity, alcohol and drug use, suicidal ideation, and child abuse.
What is It Ends With Us?
This story follows the lives of two adolescents who fall in love while each battling their terminal illnesses. It has been challenged due to its sexual content and themes of death.
What is The Fault in Our Stars?
This children's story has been challenged for promoting unhealthy and sexist relationships.
What is The Giving Tree?
This novel written about the friendship between two boys during a tense period in Afghanistan's history was banned for its graphic depictions of sexual violence, offensive language, and themes of homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and violence.
What is The Kite Runner?
This book is set at a correctional boot camp where boys are punished with the task of digging holes. The depictions of forced labor, violence, and a flawed juvenile correction system make some deem the book inappropriate for young readers.
What is Holes?
This LGBTQ new adult novel follows the First Son of the United States and a British Prince as they come to terms with their feelings for one another and resist societal pressures. It has been banned for LGBTQ content.
What is Red, White, and Royal Blue?
This beloved children's story revolving around a bear and his friends has been banned because of its talking animals being religiously offensive, political satire, and used to mock the Chinese government.
What is Winnie the Pooh?
This children's book has been banned because it is considered anti-capitalist and puts a bad light on the logging industry.
What is The Lorax?
This coming-of-age novel is about a boy in the 1950's who escapes preparatory school for New York. It was banned for its vulgar language, sexual content, portrayal of communism, excessive violence, and portrayal of rebellious behavior.
What is The Catcher in the Rye?
This popular young adult novel has been on the top 10 most challenged books previously, and was challenged due to LGBTQIA+ content, being sexually explicit, obscenity, and depictions of gender ideology. It follows a high school boy, Miles "Pudge" Halter, before and after a traumatic event with his friend.
What is Looking for Alaska?
This book about a girl who was born to donate tissues, cells, and a kidney to her sister has been banned because of inappropriate displays of drugs, suicide, and sexual content.
What is My Sister's Keeper?
This dark fantasy novel follows a woman's journey for animal rights, exploring themes of good, evil, and social injustices. It has been banned for its LGBTQ+ characters and themes, and its portrayal of drugs and prostitution.
What is Wicked?
This children's novel illustrates the big, scary world through a boy's journey into a fruit. It's commonly challenged for being potentially frightening and communist, as well featuring magic and drugs.
What is James and the Giant Peach?
This novel that has been adapted twice, once into a film and once into a musical, was banned for including sexually explicit content, graphic descriptions of violence and rape, profanity, drug use, homosexuality, incest, and African history.
What is The Color Purple?
This novel has been challenged for containing pornographic material. The story focuses on unlikely friends who travel their state for a school project and deals with themes of grief, mental illness, and suicide.
What is All the Bright Places?
This coming-of-age book/movie is about a young girl who moves towns and struggles to fit in with other girls simply because of her lack of religious beliefs.
What is Are you there God? It's me, Margaret?
This romantic novel follows a woman navigating through the Civil War and Reconstruction era all while trying to protect her family's plantation. It has been challenged due its romanticized portrayal of slavery.
What is Gone with the Wind?