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 35  There are a total of 381 valid entries on the list.
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 sin eater's confession"
Star rating for The sin eater's confession
Description:
While serving in Afghanistan, Ben writes about incidents from his senior year in a small-town Wisconsin high school, when a neighbor he was trying to help out becomes the victim of an apparent hate crime and Ben falls under suspicion.
Book cover for "Ivy Aberdeen's letter to the world"
Star rating for Ivy Aberdeen's letter to the world
Description:
When a tornado rips through town, twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed and her family of five is displaced. Ivy feels invisible and ignored in the aftermath of the storm—and what's worse, her notebook filled with secret drawings of girls holding hands has gone missing. Mysteriously, Ivy's drawings begin to reappear in her locker with notes from someone telling her to open up about her identity. Ivy thinks—and hopes—that this someone...
Book cover for "Felix ever after"
Star rating for Felix ever after
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Felix Love, a transgender seventeen-year-old, attempts to get revenge by catfishing his anonymous bully, but lands in a quasi-love triangle with his former enemy and his best friend.
Book cover for "Little & Lion"
Star rating for Little & Lion
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from boarding school and grapples with her bisexual identity when she and her [stepbrother] Lionel fall in love with the same girl, pushing Lionel's bipolar disorder to spin out of control and forcing Suzette to confront her own demons"--
Book cover for "Of fire and stars"
Star rating for Of fire and stars
Series:
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
"Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile kingdoms. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a land where magic is forbidden. Now Denna has to learn the ways of her new kingdom while trying to hide her growing...
Book cover for "The miseducation of Cameron Post"
Star rating for The miseducation of Cameron Post
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"In the early 1990s, when gay teenager Cameron Post rebels against her conservative Montana ranch town and her family decides she needs to change her ways, she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center." --Library of Congress.
Book cover for "10,000 dresses"
Star rating for 10,000 dresses
Description:
Bailey longs to wear the beautiful dresses of her dreams but is ridiculed by her unsympathetic family which rejects her true perception of herself.
Book cover for "Symptoms of being human"
Star rating for Symptoms of being human
Author:
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"A gender-fluid teenager who struggles with identity creates a blog on the topic that goes viral, and faces ridicule at the hands of fellow students"--
Book cover for "My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer"
Star rating for My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer
Description:

Twelve-year-old June Farrell is sure of one thing—she's great at making pies—and she plans to prove it by winning a blue ribbon in the Champlain Valley Fair pie competition. But a backlash against Vermont's civil union law threatens her family's security and their business. Even when faced with bullying, June won't give up on winning the blue ribbon; more importantly, she won't give up on her family.

Book cover for "Red"
Star rating for Red
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Red's factory-applied label clearly says that he is red, but despite the best efforts of his teacher, fellow crayons and art supplies, and family members, he cannot seem to do anything right until a new friend offers a fresh perspective.
Book cover for "100 questions you'd never ask your parents"
Star rating for 100 questions you'd never ask your parents
Description:
Teens have questions about sex. This simple manual answers their questions--honestly, simply, and reliably. What does an orgasm feel like? Does masturbating have any long-term negative effects? Does alcohol kill brain cells? Teens have questions about sex; it's a matter of who they ask and how reliable the answers are. Collected directly from teens and presented in a simple and accessible Q&A format, Elisabeth Henderson and Dr. Nancy Armstrong's 100...
Book cover for "Jacob's new dress"
Star rating for Jacob's new dress
Description:
Jacob, who likes to wear dresses at home, convinces his parents to let him wear a dress to school, too.
Book cover for "The past and other things that should stay buried"
Star rating for The past and other things that should stay buried
Description:
Dino doesn’t mind spending time with the dead. His parents own a funeral home, and death is literally the family business. He’s just not used to them talking back. Until Dino’s ex-best friend July dies suddenly—and then comes back to life. Except not exactly. Somehow July is not quite alive, and not quite dead. As Dino and July attempt to figure out what’s happening, they must also confront why and how their friendship ended so badly, and...
Book cover for "Ask the Passengers"
Star rating for Ask the Passengers
Author:
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
In this truly original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything—and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking real love.
Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother's pushiness and her father's lack of interest tell her they're the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends...
Book cover for "The music of what happens"
Star rating for The music of what happens
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
It is summer in Phoenix, and seventeen-year-old Maximo offers to help Jordan, a fellow student in high school, with the food truck that belonged to Jordan's deceased father, and which may be the only thing standing between homelessness for Jordan and his mom; the boys are strongly attracted to each other, but as their romance develops it is threatened by the secrets they are hiding--and by the racism and homophobia of those around them.
Book cover for "Openly straight"
Star rating for Openly straight
Series:
Openly straight volume 1.
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
Tired of being known as "the gay kid", Rafe Goldberg decides to assume a new persona when he comes east and enters an elite Massachusetts prep school--but trying to deny his identity has both complications and unexpected consequences.

20. Ash

Book cover for "Ash"
Star rating for Ash
Author:
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash grows up believing in the fairy realm that the king and his philosophers have sought to suppress, until one day she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and the King's Huntress whom she loves.