MC Library Research Guides: Book Banning and Censorship: Banned Books at MC Library

Books

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Call Number: ALE (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780316013697
Publication Date: 2009
Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct by the author.
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
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Call Number: PZ7 .R33593 Al 2015 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9781481463331
Publication Date: 2015
Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now."
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
ISBN: 9780374312718
Publication Date: 2020
Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson; Peter Parnell; Henry Cole
Call Number: PZ10.3 .R414 Tan 2005 (GT)
ISBN: 0689878451
Publication Date: 2005
Challenged for anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group.
Beyond Magenta : Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
ISBN: 9780763673680
Publication Date: 2015
Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Call Number: PS3551 .N27 B58 1999b (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 0446517836
Publication Date: 1994
Challenged for occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Call Number: PS3563 .O8749 B55 1994 (RV and TPSS)
ISBN: 0452273056
Publication Date: 1994
Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Call Number: PR6015 .U9 B65 2013 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780375712364
Publication Date: 2013
Challenged for insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Call Number: PS3537 .A426 C3 2001 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780316769174
Publication Date: 1941
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Call Number: PR6052 .U638 C5 1987 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780393312836
Publication Date: 1995
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Call Number: PS3573 .A425 C6 1992 (Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park)
ISBN: 0151191549
Publication Date: 1982
Challenged for homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit.
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Call Number: PN6747 .S245 P4713 2007 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780375714832
Publication Date: 2007
Challenged for gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive.”
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Call Number: HOP (RV and TPSS)
ISBN: 9781442471818
Publication Date: 2013
Challenged for drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Call Number: HAD (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 1400032717
Publication Date: 2004
Challenged for offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”).
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Call Number: ROW (GT)
Publication Date: 2013
Challenged for offensive language.
Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe
ISBN: 9781549307515
Publication Date: 2019
Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Call Number: WAL (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780743247542
Publication Date: 2006
Habibi by Craig Thompson
Call Number: PN6727.T48 H33 2011 (TPSS)
ISBN: 9780375424144
Publication Date: 2011
Challenged for nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Call Number: PR9199.3 .A8 H3 2006 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780525435006
Publication Date: 1985
Harry Potter (series) by J. K. Rowling
Call Number: PZ7 .R79835 Har 2008 (GT and RV)
Publication Date: 1997
Challenged for anti-family, occult/Satanism, religious viewpoint, violence.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Call Number: PZ7.1.T448 Hat 2018 (RV and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780062871350
Publication Date: 2018
Banned and challenged because it was deemed “anti-cop,” and for profanity, drug use, and sexual references
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Call Number: PQ8098.1 .L54 C313 1985 (RV and TPSS)
ISBN: 0553273914
Publication Date: 1986
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Call Number: PZ7 .C6837 Hun 2008 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780439023528
Publication Date: 2010
Challenged for anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence.
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel; Jazz Jennings; Shelagh McNicholas (Illustrator)
Call Number: HQ77.7 .H467 2014 (RV)
ISBN: 9780803741072
Publication Date: 2014
Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for a transgender character, and for confronting a topic that is “sensitive, controversial, and politically charged.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Call Number: ANG (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780812980028
Publication Date: 2009
Challenged for homosexuality, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
The Kite Runner by Khaled, Hosseini
Call Number: PS3608 .O832 K58 2004
Challenged and banned because it includes sexual violence and was thought to “lead to terrorism” and “promote Islam.”
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
ISBN: 9781616209230
Publication Date: 2019
Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Call Number: GRE (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780142412213
Publication Date: 2008
Challenged for offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Call Number: AND (GT and TPSS)
ISBN: 9781419705328
Publication Date: 2013
Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Call Number: PS3566 .I372 M9 2009 (TPSS)
ISBN: 9781439157381
Publication Date: 2009
Challenged for homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Call Number: PIC (GT)
ISBN: 9780743496735
Publication Date: 2008
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Call Number: STE (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 0140186425
Publication Date: 1994
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
Call Number: PZ7.P4255 Ou 2015 (GT)
ISBN: 9781467742023
Publication Date: 2015
Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Call Number: CHB (GT and RV)
ISBN: 9781451696202
Publication Date: 2012
Challenged for anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Call Number: AND (GT and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780312674397
Publication Date: 2011
Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity.
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
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Call Number: E185.61 .K358 2016 (GT and TPSS)
ISBN: 9781568584638
Publication Date: 2016
Banned and challenged because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
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Call Number: PS3565.B75 T48 2010 (RV and TPSS)
ISBN: 0767902890
Publication Date: 1998
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Call Number: ASH (RV)
ISBN: 9781595141880
Publication Date: 2011
Banned, challenged, and restricted for addressing teen suicide.
This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
ISBN: 1728254604
Publication Date: 2021
Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.
This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman; Kristyna Litten
Call Number: PZ8.3 .P5586836 Th 2014 (GT and RV)
ISBN: 9781433816581
Publication Date: 2013
Challenged and burned for including LGBTQIA+ content.
This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki; Mariko Tamaki
Call Number: TAM (GT)
ISBN: 9781626720947
Publication Date: 2014
Challenged because it includes LGBT characters, drug use and profanity, and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Call Number: PS3562 .E353 T6 2002 (GT, RV, and TPSS)
ISBN: 9780061980268
Publication Date: 2010
Banned and challenged for racial slurs, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience.

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