Book banning has reached an unprecedented level this year, and the push-back has been even more prevalent. Every time I walk into a bookstore or a public library I see a display of “banned books” right in front. For a long time, I didn’t fully understand what banned books were, but I’ve recently learned that book banning is a form of censorship, which occurs when individuals, government officials or organizations decide to remove books from schools, book stores and libraries. This week I wanted to highlight some of the top banned books in the U.S. and the reasons they’ve been removed.
- “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe
- “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson
- “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Perez
- “The Hate U Give,” by Angie Thomas
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“Gender Queer,” “Lawn Boy” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” were banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content by a parent at a school district in New Jersey this year. Apparently, the parent read some snippets, called for audits, and threatened criminal charges for those responsible for providing “evil, wicked” content in the school. The school board voted to retain those three challenged LGBTQIA+ titles. These three books are some of the most sought-after in the country, and highest on the list of removed books this year.
“Out of Darkness” has been banned for depictions of abuse and is considered to be sexually explicit. “The Hate U Give” has been banned for profanity, violence and promoting an anti-police message. This book has been challenged since 2018, a year after it came out.
Virtually all of the banned titles focus on characters or have authors who are women; Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; or LGBTQ+ themes. Many banned/challenged book authors have been sending out open letters to school boards and the public, claiming that they are not only standing up for their books but are standing up against censorship in schools. Banned books have been around for a long time. Most historically banned books are now taught as curriculum. I believe in the capacity of all books to expand the reader’s frame of reference and challenge them to confront new ideas. Hopefully, we’ll see these books being taught in the future.
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