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Banned & Challenged Books

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read - this year is during the week of October 5-11, 2025. This guide is to help you understand the importance of libraries continuing to highlight the value of free and open access to infor

Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books of 2023

  1. Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe
    Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.

  2. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
    Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

  3. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
    Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit

  4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
    Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, rape, drugs, profanity

  5. Flamer by Mike Curato
    Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

  6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
    Reasons: rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content

  7. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
    Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity

  8. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
    Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content

  9. Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
    Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQIA+ content

  10. Sold by Patricia McCormick
    Reasons:  claimed to be sexually explicit, rape