banned & challenged books that you should buy
book banning is defined as the practice of prohibiting/restricting books by the general public or members of a local community. it has been happening for a super long time, the first book banning dating all the way back to 1637. recently, however, the concept of book banning has resurfaced as several states have been attempting to ban certain books from school curriculum. the title "banned book" can mean a lot of things. a banned book could be removed from a library, not allowed to be published, not allowed to enter the country, or not allowed to exist at all. most instances of banned books in the united states just means that they are not allowed to be in libraries or taught in schools.
in order to be banned, a book must first be challenged by someone. this occurs when someone objects to the book being in a certain location. for example, a parent might complain about a book their child picked up from the school library. several states have already started banning books. florida leads with the most books banned and just in the 2023-2024 school year, they banned over seven HUNDRED books. other states that have banned books include texas, oregon, iowa, missouri, montana, and south carolina.
book banning is a scary concept to anyone that has ever read a dystopian book before. the act of banning books falls under an idea called censorship. suppressing any form of media this way denies basic rights to individuals and their choice to access certain knowledge. many of the books on this list may surprise you because book banning criteria is not made clear. here are a few reasons a book could be banned/challenged: books with violence or negativity, books with LGBTQIA+ content, books with offensive language, books with witchcraft, books with racial issues, books with sexual situations, and more. many avid readers find the concept of book banning appalling because it denies individuals access to certain knowledge or information. it also seems to ignore the concept of fiction as a whole and the understanding that the situations/events that take place in the books are not real.
i have recently made it a challenge for myself to read more books that are being banned and challenged in several states. i just came up with this the other day, but have already started purchasing a lot of these books! i think it's important to read a wide range of books throughout your lifetime and i try my best to not stay focused on one specific genre. this year, i really want to prioritize books like these, because i think they have super valuable lessons tied into them. many of them i read for school a while ago, but i think it's important to refresh my knowledge again and reread them on my own. i highly encourage you to educate yourself about this topic and pick one of these books off the list to add into your 2025 tbr!
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: violence, government oppression, offensive language, anti-family, sexuality, etc.
this book/movie trilogy is extremely popular with young people. the book is a young adult (ya) dystopian novel that follows katniss everdeen, a young woman from district twelve. the hunger games is a yearly tradition, created by the government, where twenty-four children, ages twelve to eighteen, enter an arena and fight to the death. katniss volunteers in place of her younger sister, prim, and must try and survive the games. this is an amazing series with several themes revolving around fighting against inequality, the importance of love and compassion, differences in class/social status, and rebellion against government. there is a lot to be learned from these books. katniss becomes a symbol of rebellion against the government for the people, and as the series progresses, the political aspects of the novel become more complex and interesting. i read these books at a very young age and i feel like they really shaped my perspective on the world. i know this book has had a huge impact on so many people and i truly believe that in the future, it will become a classic.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: sexual content, discussion of feminism, profanity, LGBTQ+ characters, etc.
i just recently purchased this book and haven't read it yet but i'm so excited for this one! i've heard so many things about it and it has been a popular book to ban/challenge in several states. this is a dystopian novel that portrays a world where women's rights have been completely stripped away. most women are sterile but some remain fertile and are forced to be surrogates (aka handmaids) for government leaders. the book focuses on the concepts of loss of individuality and stripping of women's independence. i think reading dystopian novels like this are extremely important for us to increase our empathy for others and basically see it as a "warning" for what could come if we're not all aware and careful. the concept of the book is very scary, especially as a woman myself, but i think it is important to read about it. there is also a television show about this book, i have not watched that either, but i'm excited to give a review for you all after i read this book.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: satirical critique of communism, political themes, etc.
animal farm was a book published in 1945 and was banned in several countries including cuba, china, and the soviet union. it was mainly challenged for its political overtones and its relationship to the russian revolution. in the book, a farm is overrun by the animals that are tired and overworked. the animals try to create an environment of peace among themselves, but it quickly falls apart, and one animal rises into a dictatorship. i read this initially in school, i think maybe freshman year of high school (?), and i found it super interesting. i just purchased the book the other day so i'm really interested to reread it and see what new things i notice this time around. i don't think i really grasped the concepts of the books i read in school so i like to go back and read them on my own time. it helps me appreciate it more. from what i recall from this book, it's a huge political metaphor and has a really unique and interesting way of portraying politics. it seems like a quick read (my copy is small and only has about 140 pages) so if you're not a huge reader i think you'll still like this. i'm excited to reread this one for sure and definitely recommend everyone add to their lists.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: witchcraft, magic, violence, dark themes, etc.
this is another hugely popular book/movie series that i'm sure we've all read or watched at some point in our lives. if not, i highly recommend you pick up this book. the series is amazing and has some of the best world-building i've ever read. if you don't already know, the book follows a young boy named harry potter who discovers he's a wizard. he is then sent off to hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, where he discovers not only is he a wizard, but he's also extremely famous in this world. these books are largely being challenged because parents believe the witchcraft is negatively influencing their children to believe magic is real. some parents have even said the books promote "satanism" and are anti-christian. while parents are allowed to control what content their individual child views, i do believe it is important to distinguish the difference between fiction and reality. as a christian woman who was raised reading these books, i can confidently say they've had no negative impact on my view of religion. i have a ton of positive memories associated with these books and i read them during a difficult time of my life (moving to a new state) so i found great comfort in this book universe. i finished the seventh harry potter book when i was ten years old and i do truly believe these books can be appreciated by people of all ages.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: violence, sexuality, dark themes, challenges government, etc.
i read this in fifth grade i believe and wow this book was so eye-opening to me at that age. this is a dystopian ya book where the people in the novel believe they are living in a utopia. everyone is assigned a job, partner, family, children, etc. there is basically no emotion or choice in this universe. jonas is assigned the job of receiver of memory, where he must hold all of history in his mind. the current receiver, the giver, transfers his memories to him and jonas begins to experience deep emotions through the memories. this book is superrr interesting and really explores a lot of emotions we take for granted every single day. the concept of an emotionless society is something that was first portrayed in the book 1984, and i think lois lowry does a good job expanding on that idea. this book is very easy to read from what i remember and is part of a series! i never read the rest of the books but i would really love to in the future.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: profanity, violence, anti-police, racism, etc.
i have never read this book but it is definitely on my tbr! the hate u give was published in 2017 and was angie thomas's debut novel. the ya contemporary fiction story follows sixteen-year-old starr carter, a black young woman who attends a predominantly white private school. on the way back from a party with her friend, khalil, they are pulled over by a police office who thinks khalil is grabbing a gun when he was not. he is shot and killed by the cop and the story becomes national news. the story continues to escalate as starr is thrown into the spotlight as a key witness. based on the synopsis i read, this book seems really interesting and informative. although it is fiction, there are many real-life scenarios that are similar to the one portrayed in this novel. there was also a movie made about this novel and i remembered seeing the trailer a lot when it was first released in 2018. this is a book i've also been wanting to read and i honestly think it is so shocking that it appears on the banned/challenged book list.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: criticizes censorship (ironic), anti-christian, concerns about language and content, potential for social unrest, etc.
this book is basically the worst case scenario for book banning culture. the dystopian universe created by ray bradbury consists of a world where all books are illegal and everything is run by technology. i read it this past summer because i had so many people telling me i had to read it, and i'm glad they did. i never read it in school for some reason (i know a lot of people did) but i really enjoyed reading it on my own time and at my own pace. the plot follows a man named guy who serves as a firefighter. in this universe, firefighters have a different role, they burn books as opposed to fighting fires. guy goes about his life in blissful ignorance until a new neighbor introduces him to new perspectives on life. with his curiosity stimulated, guy begins to wonder what is so dangerous about the books he is ordered to burn. i really think this book is so fascinating and it is pretty old (published in 1953) so the ideas are very profound for that time period. i also think it is interesting how a lot of the content is still relevant to modern society. the book is relatively short, my copy was about 256 pages, so it is a pretty quick read but there is a lot of plot and world-building. if you are looking for a though-provoking dystopian novel, this one is perfect for you.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: violence, death, persecution, war setting, defiance, mature themes, etc.
this is actually another book i have not read yet but really want to! most people read this in school so they're shocked to learn i never read this one, and i'm not really sure why i haven't yet. i'm not a big fan of war time books so that might be why i haven't picked it up yet. this book is a ya fiction based off the real book burnings that occurred in germany during ww2. the nazis particularly burned books written by jewish authors and to also exercise control of the public/culture. based on the synopsis i read, this book follows a young child named liesel who lives in munich during this time period. the young girl steals books and with the help of her father, learns how to read and shares her books with neighbors. this is a book i really want to read in the next year because although it is fiction, it reflects a real time period that happened in history. i think it is super educational for us to read about the past to learn from it in the future, and stories like these can have a huge impact on our lives. this book is categorized as ya so people of all ages can read it!
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: alcoholism, sexual abuse, explicit language, poverty, etc.
i actually cannot believe this book is on this list (i can't believe any of these are being challenged and especially this one) because it is literally a memoir of someone sharing their real life experiences. especially since most of the challenged content happened to that individual when they were a child. this book is in my top 3 books ever and reading it really changed me as a person so seeing people want it banned from school curriculum is personally upsetting. in this book, jeannette walls reminisces on her dysfunctional childhood with unstable parents and living an impoverished lifestyle. her parents travel across the country in a small car, avoid hospitals at all costs, and don't accept financial responsibilities. jeannette and her siblings face a lot of issues like bullying from other children, an unstable upbringing, and hunger. when jeannette is older, she becomes extremely successful and has more money than she ever imagined, while her parents remain homeless and stuck in their ways. this is just one of my favorite books ever because the vulnerability of the author is astounding to me. the content of the book can be overwhelming, but it is humbling when you remember this is someone's real experience. i read this in high school (maybe around sophomore year?) and i was absolutely impacted by the content and jeannette's writing style. i will recommend this book to everyone i meet for the rest of my life.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: sexual violence, offensive language, mental health issues, thought to "promote islam" and "lead to terrorism"
this is another book i read in high school and completely altered my view of life. i remember when i read it, everyone in my class was super impacted by the story and we would discuss the content outside of class too. i think this is a great example of a book that allows you to enter a world you would otherwise not experience and i think it's really important to read books that do that. the novel takes place in afghanistan and follows two boys, one wealthy (amir) and one poor (hassan), who are unlikely friends. i feel like the book is very difficult to describe without saying any spoilers but the story is very deep and emotionally impactful. the story spans over a long period of time and primarily follows amir as he grows throughout his life. this book made me cry so hard when i read it. it is a really beautiful story with some parts that are a bit darker and more violent, but i think it is a reflection on life at that time and in that area of the world. i really want to read it again sometime soon, now that i'm a bit older, and see what new perspectives i pick up from it.
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: graphic portrayal of racism, sexual violence, domestic violence, homosexuality, profanity, etc.
this is another book i want to read but haven't yet! i've heard so much about it recently and i just added it to my tbr. from what i've read in the synopsis, the book is fictional, but depicts the lives of african american women living in rural georgia in the early twentieth century. two sisters, celie and nettie, were separated at a young age, but continue to communicate through letters. other than this, i don't know much more about the book, but i am very interested to read it in the future. similar to the book thief, i think it is important to read books that depict the past to gain a deeper understanding of the world. i think, unfortunately, this book accurately represents life for african american women during this time period, and although some of the content is heavy, it is because it is based off real experiences. i definitely recommend everyone read the synopsis and see if this is something you'd be interested in reading!
reasons this book has been challenged/banned: sexual violence, offensive language, racism, etc.
this is another book i read in school a long time ago. there has been a ton of different discourse surrounding this book but it is a classic so i think it's important to include on the list. the fictional story is told from the perspective of a young girl, jean louise, living in alabama in the early 1930s. jean's father is a lawyer and chooses to defend a young black man who has been accused of sexually assaulting a white woman in the town. the story focuses heavily on the trial, as well as jean louise growing up and learning about the world herself. it's been a very long time since i read this one, but it is a prominent book in several school's curriculum. i think, at this point, most people have already read this book, but if you haven't yet, definitely add it to your tbr.
i hope you all learned something about book banning and can add some of these books to your tbr! i'm excited to read/reread these books in the future. i encourage you to research more about book banning and challenged books to expand your personal libraries.
thanks for reading and talk to you next week! we'll talk about our february book of the month (yours truly by abby jimenez) in the next post!
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