The most banned books list (2023 banned books)
If you love reading, you frequently see news or articles about banned books. Books are banned all over the world for different reasons. You would be surprised to see some of the banned books and authors. All for different reasons. That's why readers always wonder these questions: What are the most banned books? What is the current banned book list? What is the point of Banned Books Week? Are books being banned in 2023?
The most banned books list (2023 banned books)
The world always had banned books and challenged books. You would even be surprised to see some of the well-known authors whose books were banned. The list of most commonly banned and challenged books in the United States includes:
- Mark Twain and his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- J. K. Rowling for her The Harry Potter series
- George Orwell and his famous books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four
- Stephen King for a few of his novels.
The banned books list is very long. But some books will eventually get some freedom. Many books that were banned before nowadays ended up becoming classics. Some of them are still taught in classrooms.
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35 most banned books list (2023 version)
Here is the list of the most banned books. It also includes books that are banned in recent years.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
- George by Alex Gino
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
- Maus by Art Spiegelman
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
- Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
- All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
- Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
- Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
- I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel, Jazz Jennings
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Looking For Alaska by John Green
- This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
- Drama: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier
- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris, Michael Emberley
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Why books are banned?
There are many reasons for books being banned. According to the 2021 – 2022 report of banned books published by PEN International, a 100 years old worldwide association of writers, US schools ban books for reasons of having LGBTQ+ themes and containing protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color. Here is a list of list all matters why books are banned in US schools:
- LGBTQ+ themes or LGBTQ+ protagonists or prominent secondary character
- Protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color
- Directly address issues of race and racism
- Sexual content including informational books about puberty, sex, or relationships
- Books related to rights and activism
- Biography, autobiography, or memoir
- Books about religious minorities such as Jewish, Muslim, and others
According to PEN America, 75% of books banned in the US are fiction, and 50% percent are young adult books.
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What is Banned Books Week?
Since 1982 we have Banned Books Week. It is an annual event held the last full week of September. Banned Books Week is organized by American Library Association and Amnesty International. It is an awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read, and draws attention to banned and challenged books.
The main reason for Banned Books Week is to show “the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.” Also keeping those banned books publicly available can help people to develop their own opinions about different matters.
Most banned books in US schools 2021-2022 years
According to PEN America, the most banned books in US schools include Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. The three main reasons why books are banned in schools are LGBTQ+ content, content related to race and racism, or sexual content.
Here is the list of the most banned books in the US in the 2021-2022 school year:
- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (41 districts)
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (29 districts)
- Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez (24 districts)
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (22 districts)
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (17 districts)
- Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison (17 districts)
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (16 districts)
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (14 districts)
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins (12 districts)
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (12 districts)
- l8r, g8r by Lauren Myracle (12 districts)
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (12 districts)
- Beloved by Toni Morrison (11 districts)
- Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin (11 districts)
- Drama: A Graphic Novel by Raina Telgemeier (11 districts)
- Looking for Alaska by John Green (11 districts)
- Melissa by Alex Gino (11 districts)
- This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson (11 districts)
- This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (11 districts)
