Banned Books

2010-2022: American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and PEN America's Index of School Book Bans

Showing 1 - 20 of 69  There are a total of 381 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "The poet X"
Star rating for The poet X
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
When Xiomara Batista, who pours all her frustrations and passion into poetry, is invited to join the school slam poetry club, she struggles with her mother's expectations and her need to be heard.
Book cover for "The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian"
Star rating for The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
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.
Book cover for "The house of the spirits"
Star rating for The house of the spirits
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
"The unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world's most gifted and imaginative storytellers. The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their...
Book cover for "Bless me, Ultima"
Star rating for Bless me, Ultima
Description:
"Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. Ultima is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him as he discovers himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past-a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn, there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world . . . and will nurture...
Book cover for "Shout"
Star rating for Shout
Description:
Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven...

6. Speak

Book cover for "Speak"
Star rating for Speak
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
Book cover for "I know why the caged bird sings"
Star rating for I know why the caged bird sings
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
"Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou's debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey,...
Book cover for "The handmaid's tale"
Star rating for The handmaid's tale
Series:
Handmaid's tale volume 1.
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Set in the near future, The handmaid's tale describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told...
Book cover for "The testaments"
Star rating for The testaments
Series:
Handmaid's tale volume 2.
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:
More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by...
Book cover for "A walk among the tombstones"
Star rating for A walk among the tombstones
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Matt Scudder wields his own brand of guerilla justice against kidnappers who have taken a drug dealer's wife.
Book cover for "The room where it happened"
Star rating for The room where it happened
Average Rating:
2 stars
Description:
John Bolton served as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump for 519 days. A seasoned public servant who had previously worked for Presidents Reagan, Bush #41, and Bush #43, Bolton brought to the administration thirty years of experience in international issues and a reputation for tough, blunt talk. In his memoir, he offers a substantive and factual account of his time in the room where it happened.
Book cover for "Year of wonders"
Star rating for Year of wonders
Average Rating:
4.9 stars
Description:
In 1666, a young woman comes of age during an extraordinary year of love and death. Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a "plague village" in the rugged hill country of England, "Year of Wonders" is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history, written by the author of "Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women."
Book cover for "A clockwork orange"
Star rating for A clockwork orange
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Description:
In Anthony Burgess’s influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends’ intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. This edition includes the controversial...
Book cover for "Ender's game"
Star rating for Ender's game
Series:
Ender Wiggin volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:
Once again, Earth is under attack. An alien species is poised for a final assault. The survival of humanity depends on a military genius who can defeat the aliens. But who? Ender Wiggin. Brilliant. Ruthless. Cunning. A tactical and strategic master. And a child. Recruited for military training by the world government, Ender's childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School. Among the elite recruits Ender proves himself to be a genius...
Book cover for "The perks of being a wallflower"
Star rating for The perks of being a wallflower
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. Since its first publication in 1999, Stephen Chbosky's haunting debut novel has received critical acclaim, provoked discussion and debate, grown into an international phenomenon, and inspired a major motion picture. Now, to mark the anniversary of his beloved cult classic, Charlie has written a new letter, his first in...
Book cover for "The awakening, and other stories"
Star rating for The awakening, and other stories
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Edna Pontellier, a Victorian-era wife and mother is awakened to the full force on her desire for love and freedom when she becomes enamored with Robert LeBrun, a young man she meets while on vacation.
Book cover for "City of heavenly fire"
Star rating for City of heavenly fire
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian -- but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance.."--
Book cover for "Ready player one"
Star rating for Ready player one
Series:
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Description:
"In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as OASIS. Wade's devoted his live to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines--puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to...
Book cover for "Between the world and me"
Star rating for Between the world and me
Average Rating:
4.1 stars
Description:
For Ta-Nehisi Coates, history has always been personal. At every stage of his life, he's sought in his explorations of history answers to the mysteries that surrounded him--most urgently, why he, and other black people he knew, seemed to live in fear ... In [this book], Coates takes readers along on his journey through America's history of race and its contemporary resonances through a series of awakenings--moments when he discovered some new truth...
Book cover for "The Hunger Games"
Star rating for The Hunger Games
Series:
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.