TEEN BANNED BOOKS
The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Content regarding alcohol, bullying, violence; sexual references; profanity; anti-Christian.)
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group)
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Pornographic.)
Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez (Gang violence, drug use and sexual references.)
Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison (Age inappropriateness, profanity and sexual content.)
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Sexual content, violence and excessive bad language.)
Fallen Angels By Walter Dean Myers (Profanity and graphic depiction of war.) A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck (Cruelty to animals, violence and graphic sexuality.)
Fat Kid Rules the World by K. L. Going (Offensive language, sexual reference, and drug use.)
Troy Billings at 6'1", 296 pounds, is standing at the edge of a subway platform seriously contemplating suicide when he meets Curt MacCrae -a sage-like, semi-homeless punk guitar genius who also happens to be a drop-out legend at Troy's school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
"I saved your life. You owe me lunch," Curt tells Troy, and Troy can't imagine refusing; after all, think of the headline: FAT KID ARGUES WITH PIECE OF TWINE.
But with Curt, Troy gets more than he bargained for and soon finds himself recruited as Curt's drummer. "We'll be called Rage/Tectonic. Sort of a punk rock, Clash sort of thing," Curt informs him.
There's only one problem. Troy can't play the drums. Oh yes, and his father thinks Curt's a drug addict. And his brother thinks Troy's a loser. But with Curt, anything is possible. "You'll see," says Curt. "We're going to be HUGE."
In an outstanding, funny, edgy debut, K. L. Going presents two unlikely friends who ultimately save each other.
Feed by M. T. Anderson (Explicit language and sexual content.) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (Explicit sexual content and offensive language.)
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (Explicit drug use and explicit sexual content.)
Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar (Homosexual elements, sexual content, drug use, offensive language, and being unsuitable for the targeted age group.)
The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give #1) by Angie Thomas (Racism, offensive language, sexual content, and drug use.)
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman (Anti-Christian and violence.)
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (Insensitivity, offensive language, violence, anti-family, anti-ethic, and occult/satanic.)
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (Contains graphic content.)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (Offensive language and sexual content.)
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (Satanic, and promoting witchcraft.)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (Offensive language.) The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (Conflict, crime, and death of a character,)
The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Sexual content, drug and alcohol use, anti-family, offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group.)
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (Graphic language and images.)
Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.
Rainbow Trilogy by Alex Sanchez (Homosexuality, anti-Christian, and HIV/AIDS.)
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Contains sexual violence.) Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher (Pornography and offensive langruage.)
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Glamorizes suicide.)
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson (Contains offensive language, sexual content, child abuse, suicide, and drug use.)
High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world. In Twisted, the acclaimed Laurie Halse Anderson tackles a very controversial subject: what it means to be a man today. Fans and new readers alike will be captured by Tyler’s pitchperfect, funny voice, the surprising narrative arc, and the thoughtful moral dilemmas that are at the heart of all of the author’s award-winning, widely read work.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and promoting a religious viewpoint.)
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher (Offensive, profane, and racist.)
ADULT BANNED BOOKS
1984 by George Orwell (Pro-communism ideas and sexuality.)
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarqueb (Nazis banned it for being anti-war, unpatriotic and made Germans look weak.)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X (Promotes ideas of black equality and power with violence.)
One of Time’s 10 most important nonfiction books of the 20th century.
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne.
In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. It is essential for anyone who wants to understand the African American experience and America as a whole.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel by Dai Sijie (Discusses racial tensions.) Beloved by Toni Morrison (Offensive language, violence, sex and racism.)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Sexual explicit content, offensive language, and an underlying socialist-communist agenda.)
Candide by Voltaire (Contains religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naivete.)
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (In 1972, the Strongsville, Ohio School Board banned the book without stating an official reason. Notes from the meeting include references to the book as 'completely sick' and 'garbage.' )
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (Offensive language and sexual references.)
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin (Offensive language and sexually explicit, degrading treatment of women.)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Offensive language.)
Sixty years after its originally publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before.
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Addresses issues of poverty, sexuality and alcoholism.) Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Offensive language, portrayal of slaves, and immoral behavior of heroine.) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Offensive language, sexual content, violence, and Communist ideas.)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Reference to drugs, sexuality, and offensive language.)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Sexually explicit, violently graphic and morally corrupt.)
Hardly Knew Her by Laura Lippman (Promotes bad behavior and discusses homosexuality.)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Sexually explicit and incites bitterness and hatred towards white people.)
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, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (Detailed diagram depicting how to construct a bomb.) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Pornographic.)
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Offensive language and explicit sexual content.)
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (Explicit language and Communist sympathy.)
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence (Obscene.)
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (Obscene.)
My Sister's Keeper: A Novel by Jodi Picoult (Contains references to homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoints, sexism, sexually explicit content, and violence.)
Jodi Picoult tells the story of a girl who decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body in this New York Times bestseller that tackles a controversial subject with grace and explores what it means to be a good person.
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate—a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister—and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
My Sister’s Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child’s life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (Portrays the poor negatively)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Offensive language, racism, and violence.)
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (Profanity, unsavory theme, sexuality, and racism.)
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Sexual content.)
Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs (Contains homosexuality, sexual content, profanity, underage drinking and smoking, and extreme moral shortcomings with a total lack of negative consequences.)
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Decried by many in the Muslim world for its apparent blasphemy.)
Slaughterhouse-five Or, The Children's Crusade, A Duty-dance With Death by Kurt Vonnegut (Depraved, immoral, psychotic, vulgar and anti-Christian.)
Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.
Billy Pilgrim survives capture by the Gemans in World War II, the Dresden bombings, and the struggle for financial success only to be kidnapped in a flying saucer and taken to the planet
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (Sexual content and offensive language.)
Sophie's Choice by William Styron (Sexual content.) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Sexual content, offensive language, and racism.)
Ulysses by James Joyce (Sexual content, obscene and blasphemous.)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Sexual content, violence, offensive language.)
Over 10,000,000 copies in print worldwide
#1 New York Times Bestseller
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller
A Newsday Favorite Book of 2006
A USA Today Bestseller
A Major Motion Picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz
Jacob Janowski’s luck had run out--orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was the Great Depression and for Jacob the circus was both his salvation and a living hell. There he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but brutal animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this group of misfits was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
