Banned Books Week 2022: The 10 Most Challenged Books of Last Year

A list of banned, challenged, or restricted books you can read to participate in Banned Books Week 2022.

By Gabby Cushman

 

This September, our monthly theme is Banned & Challenged Books. Caregivers, elected officials, and others sometimes challenge the selection of books available in schools and libraries due to themes they are not comfortable with. However, it’s harmful to limit access to books based on what viewpoints we agree or disagree with since we can learn a lot from different authors’ perspectives!

September 18th through September 24th is Banned Books Week 2022. Banned Books Week happens annually and celebrates our freedom to read books of our choice. The event started in 1982 after a sudden surge in books being challenged and restricted in schools and libraries. Banned Books Week aims to draw attention to the harm censorship causes, and this year’s theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.”

Along with this event, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) puts together a list of the top 10 most challenged books of the last year, as reported by librarians and teachers across the country. Below, we’ll list 2021’s Top 10 Challenged Books with a small summary of the book and why it’s been banned (removed from schools/libraries), challenged (attempts are being made to remove or restrict the book in schools/libraries), or restricted (blocked access for select groups). Consider picking up one or more of these books to read during Banned Books Week this year!

 

#1- Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Summary: An autobiography about a journey of self-discovery and identity by the nonbinary and asexual Maia, who uses e/em/eir pronouns. It started as a way for Maia to explain eir identity to eir family but goes beyond a personal story to create a compassionate guide on gender identity, what it means, and how to think about it.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned, challenged, and restricted for containing LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.

 

#2- Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Summary: A coming-of-age story about a young Mexican-American boy named Mike Muñoz, who goes on a journey of self-discovery and trying to find the secret to achieving the “American dream” of happiness and success. It deals with themes of social class distinctions, cultural discrimination, and standing up for oneself.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged for containing LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered sexually explicit.

 

#3- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Summary: Journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson presents a series of personal essays that explores his childhood through his college years in New Jersey and Virginia. The memoir highlights life events that showcase the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged for containing LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.

#4- Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez

Summary: Ashley Hope Pérez takes the real-life event- the 1937 New London school explosion, the worst school disaster in the United States- to tell a story about marginalized individuals who lived in east Texas in the 1930s. The novel depicts themes of segregation, love, and family.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered sexually explicit.

#5- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Summary: Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this novel follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Starr Carter who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil (who was unarmed) at the hands of a police officer. In the aftermath, everyone wants to know what really happened that night, and Starr is the only one alive to answer that.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda.

#6- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Summary: Based on the author’s own experiences, this book tells the story of Junior, a young boy who leaves the reservation he grew up on to attend an all-white farm town high school. It highlights the adolescence of a Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and use of a derogatory term.

#7- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Summary: The novel follows high schooler Greg, a social recluse with his friend Earl, spending most of their time making movies together. This is until Greg’s mom forces him to rekindle a childhood friendship with Rachel, recently diagnosed with leukemia, and the boys decide to make a film for her once she stops treatment.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.

#8- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Summary: This book tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, an eleven-year-old Black girl growing up in Lorain, Ohio, which is the author’s childhood hometown. Pecola yearns for her eyes to turn blue so she can feel as loved as the blond, blue-eyed children in America, but in the autumn of 1941, her life changes in devastating ways she does not expect.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged because it depicted child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.

#9- This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

Summary: Described as an entertaining “instruction manual” for queer people who have just come out, this book answers any questions about growing up LGBTQIA+ you could have. It covers topics like sex, politics, hooking up, stereotypes, coming out, and more, as well as includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrum.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sex education and LGBTQIA+ content.

#10- Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

Summary: Susan Kuklin represents six transgender/gender-neutral young adults she interviewed about their lives before, during, and after they acknowledged their gender preference. This novel takes an honest look at the life, love, and struggles of transgender teens.

Reasons why it’s challenged: Banned and challenged for containing LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered sexually explicit.

 

Having a diverse library is an important part of having an inclusive classroom culture. Want 3 easy steps, along with 3 done-for-you templates to make setting up an inclusive classroom easy this year? Sign up for our FREE mini-course for 3 done-for-you templates and 3 quick tips to help make your classroom more inclusive today.