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 252  There are a total of 381 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Clap when you land"
Star rating for Clap when you land
Average Rating:
2.3 stars
Description:
"Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people . . . In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal's office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance -- and Papi's secrets -- the two girls are forced...
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.

3. Poet X

Book cover for "Poet X"
Star rating for Poet X
Description:
Xiomara Batista se siente ignorada e incapaz de ocultarse en Harlem. Desde que su cuerpo se volvioĢ curviliĢneo, aprendioĢ a dejar que sus punĢƒos y su fiereza hablaran por ella. Pero X tiene mucho para decir, por eso descarga su frustracioĢn en las paĢginas de un cuaderno y recita las palabras para siĢ misma como si fueran plegarias, especialmente despueĢs de verse invadida por fuertes sentimientos hacia un chico de la clase de biologiĢa....
Book cover for "47,000 beads"
Star rating for 47,000 beads
Description:
"Peyton loves to dance, and especially at pow wow, but her Auntie notices that she's been dancing less and less. When Peyton shares that she just can't be comfortable wearing a dress anymore, Auntie Eyota asks some friends for help to get Peyton what she needs."--
Book cover for "Half of a yellow sun"
Star rating for Half of a yellow sun
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
Re-creates the 1960s struggle of Biafra to establish an independent republic in Nigeria, following the intertwined lives of the characters through a military coup, the Biafran secession, and the resulting civil war.
Book cover for "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens agenda"
Star rating for Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens agenda
Average Rating:
4.8 stars
Description:
"Sixteen-year-old, not-so-openly-gay Simon Spier is blackmailed into playing wingman for his classmate or else his sexual identity and that of his pen pal will be revealed" --Provided by publisher.
Book cover for "The upside of unrequited"
Star rating for The upside of unrequited
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
Avoiding relationships to protect her sensitive heart, plus-sized Molly supports her once-cynical twin, Cassie, when the latter has her own bout of lovesickness, a situation that is complicated by sibling dynamics and an unexpected romantic triangle.
Book cover for "What if it's us"
Star rating for What if it's us
Series:
What if it's us volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
When Arthur, a summer intern from Georgia, meets Ben, a native New Yorker, it seems like fate, but after three attempts at dating fail they wonder if the universe is pushing them together or apart. Told in two voices.
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 "Catalyst"
Star rating for Catalyst
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.
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...

14. 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.

15. Feed

Book cover for "Feed"
Star rating for Feed
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.
Book cover for "The Haters"
Star rating for The Haters
Description:
A road trip adventure about a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, against every realistic expectation, become a band.
Book cover for "Me and Earl and the dying girl"
Star rating for Me and Earl and the dying girl
Average Rating:
2.8 stars
Description:
Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.
Book cover for "Meet cute"
Star rating for Meet cute
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
A collection of short stories exploring the moment when a couple meets for the first time--from an African American girl in upstate New York who simultaneously finds a prom dress and a date to a transgender girl who confronts the student blocking her right to use the school restroom.
Book cover for "A boy called Bat"
Star rating for A boy called Bat
Series:
Boy called BAT volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
When his veterinarian mom brings home a stray baby skunk that needs rehabilitation before it can be placed in a wild animal shelter, Bat, who has austim, resolves to prove that he is up to the challenge of caring for the skunk permanently.

20. Damsel

Book cover for "Damsel"
Star rating for Damsel
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
Waking up in the arms of Prince Emory, Ama has no memory of him rescuing her from a dragon's lair, but she soon discovers there is more to the legend of dragons and damsels than anyone knows and she is still in great danger.