As a student, being assigned a book to read was right up there with adults lamenting the need for a root canal. I hated it. I often fell asleep trying to read whatever novel my teacher had decided I had to read. And let us not even discuss the reading guides or the tests about the book. It was the worst part of my educational experience, mostly because I wanted to read what I wanted to read rather than what I was told to read. This attitude continued until my senior year when I enrolled in an English 1101 class instead of senior English and the British Literature course I would have otherwise taken. Looking back, I think I might have enjoyed some of the books from that course, especially Frankenstein, but my English 1101 course required I purchase an anthology with stories like The Storm and Awakening by Kate Chopin, poetry by Robert Frost, and a novel which I have vague memories of a scandalous story but cannot recall neither the name of the work nor the author. But I remember this anthology being the first time I read a book or any literature that made me think, made me examine my beliefs and my assumptions of the world as I saw it, and challenged me to consider a world of thinking beyond my own without the guide of a teacher. I learned from the books I was taught in school, but I did not fall in love with them, not the way that I have with books since then.
Recent conversations with dear friends, all of whom are English teachers and/or Media Specialists, addressed the plight of banned books. With this in mind, I decided to do some research. The American Library Association’s (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) listed the Top 100 Most Banned or Challenged Books from 2010-2019. I would never claim to be a perfect mother, but after reviewing the list, I am certainly not going to win any Mother-Of-The-Year awards by letting my own children read the #2 most banned/challenged book series on that list: Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. Yes, you read that right. A children’s adventure book series that my boys absolutely loved is the #2 most banned/challenged book from 2010-2019. These are a few from that list that surprised me:
2. Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey
3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
11.The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
12. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
15. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
28. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
30. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
33. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
36. A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer
41. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey
49. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
50. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
62. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
69. Go the F*ck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
79. 1984 by George Orwell
82. Awakening by Kate Chopin
84. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
88. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Most of the books on this list of literature that someone had deemed inappropriate enough to have it banned or challenged are books that I read as a student or books my own children have read as students in classes with teachers that I consider to be not only dynamic but who are masters of their craft and protective of what they introduce their students to. And yet, some of the books they assigned in their classes made the list of naughty books.
There is one book on abbreviated list above that probably should be explained. Go the F*ck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach is not a children’s book. It is a tongue-in-cheek explanation of how exhausted parents feel when a child is fighting going to sleep, told in the same sing-song style of Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. If you want to experience the full effect, I recommend the YouTube video as read by Samuel L. Jackson. Then tell me that you have never had this moment as a parent.
Digging deeper, the following is a shortened list of books from the ALA OIF from 2000-2009:
- Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
28. Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
43. Blubber by Judy Blume
46. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill by John Grisham
69. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
71. Junie B. Jones (series) by Barbara Park
90. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
99. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Some of these books were my favorite books of my childhood. One of them was the first film I showed my youngest child when he mentioned he was interested in being a criminal defense attorney. I have since recommended most of the John Grisham books for him because of how well they are written and address real life situations from the eye of the legal system. The irony of banning a book about the dangers of banning books (Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury) is not lost on me. Other lists included the classics with a description of why they were banned and by which school/organization. The following are some of the banned classics:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Of these classics, many were burned in the Nazi bonfires of 1933. The fact that they were burned by a political party that sought to censor what an entire country of people had available to expand their thinking and their mindset makes me want to read them even more. Perhaps I will make myself a list of books considered naughty by the Nazi’s for reading and collecting before someone else decides to burn them.
As a writer, I am not a fan of putting a list in the middle of a blog, but I chose to do so because the specific titles of the books absurdly banned needed to be listed. It is my hope that you had a moment similar to my husband’s reaction when I read him some of the books. His head snapped around to glare at me like something out of a horror film and said, “The Kite Runner? Why? I read that book.”
As a scientist, asking why is important to me. I wanted to see if the American Library Association chose to list why various schools and educational organizations chose to challenge or ban these books. The ALA does a fabulous job explaining the difference between challenging a book and banning a book, as well as reasons for banning books, and various legal cases that uphold the existence of books that others may find offensive. These are the top reasons why books were challenged or banned, according to the ALA OIF:
- the material was considered to be “sexually explicit”
- the material contained “offensive language”
- the materials was “unsuited to any age group”
Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain obscenity in 1963 by saying “…I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it…” (United States Supreme Court, 1963). Perhaps the same can be said about offensive language or sexually explicit material. However, just because a word or a situation may offend me does not mean that the book is not useful in teaching me something. For instance, I abhor the “n” word. I do not allow it in my presence and will quickly tell you not to use that word around me. But if I am reading a book that address racism, I expect that word will be in the book. I personally do not care to read about sexual violence, but if the book is about the inhumanity that some suffer at the hands of others, I would expect that book may contain a description of trauma and suffering.
Some parents may choose to challenge a book because of profanity. As a parent, I understand that, but I am also aware that I cannot protect my children from all profanity unless I prevent them from sitting at a middle school or high school lunch table, having conversations with other people, and wrap them in an isolation bubble for the rest of their lives. As parents, we want to protect our children, but in doing so, are we stunting what they can learn because we are afraid they may be exposed to things beyond our own belief system?
The idea of banning a book because it is “unsuitable to any age group” removes lessons from older students because younger students may not be ready for the concepts being discussed. I understand this, but I cannot support it. Instead, I propose schools and organizations decide what age group should read the book rather than banning it. Some of the books previously mentioned, such as Animal Farm by George Orwell, were banned from the Advanced Placement English courses at various schools, a course that counts for college credit. If students are not challenged to apply the book concepts to the nature of society both at the time the book was written and now, what could they read to challenge the way the see the world. If we prevent our children from reading Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, how are they to learn about human toll of history so that we may be convicted to prevent it from repeating itself.
I was once told that book are dangerous and I have to agree. Yes, books are dangerous, because they challenge us to see beyond our front door, to explore diverse cultures (Evolve Treatment Centers, 2022), historical events, and life experiences. This is a danger we cannot overlook, a danger we must embrace, for without it, our minds become a stagnant pond, slowly losing oxygen, diversity of life, and overrun with muck and mire. Books create a roaring rapid of learning, growth, and imagination, a river of creativity and empathy (Stanborough, 2019). In school, students traverse through that roaring rapid with the help of an experienced river guide in their teacher. That is a danger for which I will gladly sign up and include my children along for the ride.
I have since lost the anthology from my English 1101 course and I wish I still had it. There are many textbooks I wish I still had from my years of education, not the least of which being my Abnormal Psychology textbook, but those are all for references or supplementary teaching materials. To have that lost anthology again would reconnect me to stories that opened my mind, most of the works I never read and would like to explore. I think I may spend some time tracking down someone who might be able to help me find the exact version and author so I may order myself a copy once again. In the meantime, I will leave you with this parting nugget of information: The Holy Bible was #52 on the list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books of 2010-2019.
“About Banned & Challenged Books”, American Library Association, December 10, 2012. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/aboutbannedbooks
“Banned & Challenged Classics”, American Library Association, March 26, 2013. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics
Evolve Treatment Centers (2022, October 5). Should you care if your teen wants to read a banned book. Evolve Treatment Centers. https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/teen-read-banned-book/#:~:text=Books%20provide%20a%20way%20for,your%20kids%20learn%20new%20things.
Stanborough, R. J. (2019, October 15). Benefits of reading books: For your physical and mental health. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books
“Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009”, American Library Association, March 26, 2013. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2009
“Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019”, American Library Association, September 9, 2020. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019
United States Supreme Court. (1963). Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184. Case Law. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/378/184.html
Education, etc. 
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