Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. The week-long celebration, highlights the benefits of intellectual freedom and draws attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning of books across the United States, including books commonly taught in secondary schools. Banned Books Week is held each year during the last week of September. The American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Association of College Stores are also founding sponsors the event. Co-sponsors include the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, and PEN American Center. Banned Books Week is also endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.
Booksellers who celebrate Banned Books Week tell us that it is one of their favorite promotions. Customers are surprised when they learn that there are hundreds of book challenges every year–and that some of their favorites are on the list! They are also grateful to booksellers for raising awareness of this critical issue.
A few words from a librarian. Librarians have always supported a parent's right to decide what his or her family should read. But in our democracy, other families should be able to make different choices for their own families, not dictated by a particular political or religious viewpoint. We need to remember that when one book is removed, this act of censorship affects more than one person or family. It affects the entire community. We need to remember that public libraries serve everyone, including those who are too young or too poor to buy their own books or own a computer. Contrary to commentary writer Jonah Goldberg's assertion, librarians and library users celebrate Banned Books Week as a testament to the strength of our freedom in the United States. We celebrate the freedom to read because we all know that we are so fortunate to live in a country that protects our freedom to choose what we want to read. If you doubt this, just ask anyone from a totalitarian society. That is why we draw attention to acts of censorship that chill the freedom to read.
Molly Raphael, president American Library Association
Read Banned Books!
New for this year I added some new stuff for the 2011 celebration of Banned Books Week. Here are a few, new additions this year: a loud video about the BANNED, the Top Ten banned books during the last 10 years and a place on YouTube for videos having to do with banned books...take a look at READ OUT...BBW link ...you can also link to the Banned Book Week site
Judy Blume talks about censorship
Here's a video about BANNED BOOKS.
TOP TEN Challenged Books by Year
2010 According to the American Library Association, there were 348 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2010, and many more go unreported.
1 And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
2 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group 3 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit 4 Crank by Ellen Hopkins Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
5 The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group 6 Lush by Natasha Friend Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
7 What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8 Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint
10Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group
2009 1 ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle 2 And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell & Justin Richardson 3 The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 4 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 5 Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer 6 Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 7 My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult 8 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler 9 The Color Purple by Alice Walker 10 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
2008 1 And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell 2 His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman 3 ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (seres) by Lauren Myracle 4 Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz 5 Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya 6 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 7 Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar 8 Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen 9 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 10 Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper
2007 1 And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell 2 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier 3 Olive’s Ocea by Kevin Henkes 4 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman 5 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 6 The Color Purple by Alice Walker 7 ttyl by Lauren Myracle 8 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 9 It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris 10 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
2006 1 And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell 2 Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily Von Ziegesar 3 Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 4 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler 5 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 6 Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz 7 Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher 8 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 9 Beloved by Toni Morrison 10 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
2005 1 It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris 2 Forever by Judy Blume 3 The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger 4 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier 5 Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher 6 Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds 7 What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones 8 Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey 9 Crazy Lady! by Jane Leslie Conly 10 It’s So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families by Robie H. Harris
2004 1 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier 2 Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers 3 Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture by Michael A. Bellesiles 4 Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey 5 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 6 What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones 7 In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak 8 King & King by Linda deHaan 9 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 10 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
2003 1 Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 2 Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling 3 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 4 Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture by Michael Bellesiles 5 Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers 6 Go Ask Alice by Anonymous 7 It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris 8 We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier 9 King & King by Linda de Haan 10 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
2002 1 Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 2 Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 3 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier 4 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 5 Taming the Star Runner by S.E. Hinton 6 Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey 7 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 8 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 9 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor 10 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
2001 1 Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 2 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 3 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier 4 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 5 Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene 6 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 7 Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 8 Go Ask Alice by Anonymous 9 Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers 10 Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
100Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000-2007- from the American Library Association
1 Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling 2 Alice series - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 3 The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier 4 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou 6 Scary Stories - Alvin Schwartz 7 Fallen Angels - Walter Dean Myers 8 It’s Perfectly Normal - Robie Harris 9 And Tango Makes Three - Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 10 Captain Underpants - Dav Pilkey 11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain 12 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison 13 Forever - Judy Blume 14 The Color Purple - Alice Walker 15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky 16 Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan 17 Go Ask Alice - Anonymous 18 King and King - Linda de Haan 19 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 20 Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson 21 The Giver - Lois Lowry 22 We All Fall Down - Robert Cormier 23 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee 24 Beloved - Toni Morrison 25 The Face on the Milk Carton - Caroline Cooney 26 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson 27 My Brother Sam Is Dead - James Lincoln Collier 28 In the Night Kitchen - Maurice Sendak 29 His Dark Materials series - Philip Pullman 30 Gossip Girl series - Cecily von Ziegesar 31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know - Sonya Sones 32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison 33 It’s So Amazing - Robie Harris 34 Arming America - Michael Bellasiles 35 Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane 36 Blubber - Judy Blume 37 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 38 Athletic Shorts - Chris Crutcher 39 Bless Me, Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya 40 Life is Funny - E.R. Frank 41 Daughters of Eve - Lois Duncan 42 Crazy Lady - Jane Leslie Conly 43 The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Paterson 44 You Hear Me - Betsy Franco 45 Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut 46 Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher 47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby - Dav Pilkey 48 The Facts Speak for Themselves - Brock Cole 49 The Terrorist - Caroline Cooney 50 Mick Harte Was Here - Barbara Park 51 Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Green 52 The Upstairs Room - Johanna Reiss 53 When Dad Killed Mom - Julius Lester 54 Blood and Chocolate - Annette Curtis Klause 55 The Fighting Ground - Avi 56 The Things They Carried - Tim O’Brien 57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor 58 Fat Kid Rules the World - K.L. Going 59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things - Carolyn Mackler 60 A Time To Kill - John Grisham 61 Rainbow Boys - Alex Sanchez 62 Olive’s Ocean - Kevin Henkes 63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey 64 A Day No Pigs Would Die - Robert Newton Peck 65 Speak Laurie - Halse Anderson 66 Always Running - Luis Rodriguez 67 Black Boy - Richard Wright 68 Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George 69 Deal With It! - Esther Drill 70 Detour for Emmy - Marilyn Reynolds 71 Draw Me A Star - Eric Carle 72 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury 73 Harris and Me - Gary Paulsen 74 Junie B. Jones series - Barbara Park 75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove - Yoko Watkins 76 Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison 77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Chris Crutcher 78 What’s Happening to My Body Book - Lynda Madaras 79 The Boy Who Lost His Face - Louis Sachar 80 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 81 Anastasia Again! - Lois Lowry 82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - Judy Blume 83 Bumps In the Night - Harry Allard 84 Goosebumps series - R.L. Stine 85 Shade’s Children - Garth Nix 86 Cut - Patricia McCormick 87 Grendel - John Gardner 88 The House of Spirits - Isabel Allende 89 I Saw Esau - Iona Opte 90 Ironman - Chris Crutcher 91 The Stupids series - Harry Allard 92 Taming the Star Runner - S.E. Hinton 93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t - Judy Blume 94 Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume 95 Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel 96 Nathan’s Run - John Gilstrap 97 Pinkerton, Behave! - Steven Kellog 98 Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers 99 Halloween ABC - Eve Merriam 100 Heather Has Two Mommies - Leslea Newman
Out of 3,869 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported.
Beacon For Freedom Beacon for Freedom of Expression is an international database on censorship of books and newspapers, and literature on freedom of expression, produced by the Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression.
National Coalition Against Censorship This page is an advocacy webpage that focuses on censorship in all types of media, including art, television, radio, textbooks, etc.
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