Research Guides: Library Displays: Currently on Display

Banned Books Week 2022

Starting Monday, September 12th, 2022, in honor of Banned Books Week, we will be featuring books from our collection that have been targeted and/or removed from libraries in the past (and even still today!).

duPont-Ball Library DOES NOT BAN BOOKS. We value free, open access to ALL information!

Stop by the library today and read a banned book!

Gender Queer: a Memoir Deluxe Edition by Maia Kobabe
Call Number: HQ77.8.K625 A3 2022
Publication Date: 2022
Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content; considered to have sexually explicit images.
Maus I: a Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
Call Number: D804.3 .S65
Publication Date: 1986
Banned due to profanity, nudity, and its depiction of violence and suicide.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank; Susan Massotty (Translator); Otto H. Frank (Editor); Mirjam Pressler (Editor)
Call Number: D810 .J4 F7152 1995
Publication Date: 1995
Banned due to mature content, including depictions of sexual activities.
The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones (Created by); The New The New York Times Magazine (Created by); Caitlin Roper (Editor); Ilena Silverman (Editor); Jake Silverstein (Editor)
Call Number: E441 .A15 2021
Publication Date: 2021
Banned for being “a racially divisive and revisionist account;” attempts to deny or obfuscate the fundamental principles upon which the United States was founded.”
Lord of the Flies by Stephen King (Introduction by); E. M. Forster (Contribution by); Jennifer Buehler (Contribution by); William Golding; Lois Lowry (Foreword by)
Call Number: PR6013 .O35 L6 2016
Publication Date: 2016
Banned for violence, concerns of age-appropriateness, racist content, sexual content, and "negative moral implications."
Brave New World by Huxley Aldous
Call Number: PR6015 .U9 B65 1992
Publication Date: 1989
Banned for anti-religion, anti-family, and blasphemous content.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Call Number: PR6029 .R8 A63 1995
Publication Date: 1996
Banned for being pro-communist and containing indecency, and "controversial" political ideology.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Call Number: PR6058 .A245 C87 2003
Publication Date: 2003
Banned for offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and promoting atheism.
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Call Number: PR9499.3 .R8 S28 1989
Publication Date: 1989
Banned primarily in Iran but in other countries as well. The novel was seen as blasphemous by most Muslims because Rushdie used Islam in a satirical way
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Call Number: PS3503 .R167 F25
Publication Date: 1967
Banned for profanity, using God's name in vain, sex, drugs, suicide, murder, and abortion.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Call Number: PS3562 .E352 T6
Publication Date: 1961
Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, and for featuring a “white savior” character and its perception of the Black experience.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Call Number: PS3563 .O8749 B58 2000
Publication Date: 1993
Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Call Number: PS3565 .B75 T48 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Banned for vulgar language, sexual content, and violence that was considered “unacceptable for an educational setting.”
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Call Number: PZ7 .F5768 H37 2000
Publication Date: 2000
Banned for encouraging children to disrespect their parents by lying, talking back, cursing, spying on others, and being “too dark."
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
Call Number: HQ76.27.A37 J644 2020
Publication Date: 2020
Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Call Number: PZ7 .A382 A27 2007
Publication Date: 2007
Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Call Number: PZ7 .A8155 T45 2007
Publication Date: 2007
Banned due to drug and alcohol use, sexual content, suicide, and being unsuited for age group.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Call Number: PZ7 .P968 G65 2006
Publication Date: 2006
Banned due to the
belief that the true meaning of the story was anti-god.
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Call Number: PZ7.1.S7546 D437 2017
Publication Date: 2017
Banned for promoting “anti-police sentiment.”
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling; Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)
Call Number: PZ7.R79835 H37 1998
Publication Date: 1998
Banned for magic, witchcraft, and the occult; alleged Satanism, inclusion of "actual curses and spells", violence, "nefarious and immoral" character actions, and alleged "anti-family and anti-religious" values.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Call Number: PZ7 .B6265 A74 1990
Publication Date: 2001
Banned for tackling puberty and teen sexuality.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Call Number: PZ7 .L9673 G58 2014
Publication Date: 2014
Banned and challenged in various schools at times due to the potentially difficult topics it brings up including infanticide, suicide and euthanasia.
Ttyl (Talk to You Later) by Lauren Myracle
Call Number: PZ7 .M9955 T8 2004
Publication Date: 2004
Banned for offensive language, religious viewpoint, being sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group.
Nasreen's Secret School by Jeanette Winter (Illustrator)
Call Number: LC2410 .A3 W56 2009
Publication Date: 2009
Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Call Number: PS3569.I47224 W5 1974
Publication Date: 2014
Banned for promoting drug use, the occult, suicide, death, violence, disrespect for truth, disrespect for authority, and rebellion against parents.
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson; Peter Parnell; Henry Cole (Illustrator)
Call Number: PZ10.3 .R414 T36 2005
Publication Date: 2005
Banned for story being “unsuitable for young children” and having "homosexual overtones.”
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George; John Schoenherr (Illustrator)
Call Number: PZ7 .G2933 J8
Publication Date: 1972
Banned for sexual content, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.
The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Call Number: PZ7 .P63123 A3 1997
Publication Date: 1997
Challenged for offensive language, violence, and being unsuited to age group.
The Lorax by Seuss
Call Number: PZ8.3 .G276 L6
Publication Date: 1971
Banned for portraying logging in a poor light and would turn children against the foresting industry.
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel; Jazz Jennings; Shelagh McNicholas (Illustrator)
Call Number: HQ77.7 .H467 2014
Publication Date: 2014
Banned for homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and being unsuited for age group.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Call Number: ONLINE
Publication Date: 2015
Banned for being "racist, coarse, trashy, inelegant, irreligious, obsolete, inaccurate, and mindless."
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Call Number: ONLINE
Publication Date: 1995
Banned because of “language and sexual references in the book.”
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Call Number: PG3476 .N3 L6
Publication Date: 1993
Banned in France, Argentina, New Zealand, England and South Africa for the sexual relationship between the 37-year-old narrator and his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

Library Displays

Banned Books Week 2022

Have a question? Ask a librarian! Email libref@stetson.edu. Call or text 386-747-9028.