September 22-28 was Banned Books Week.
Preliminary data released by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom found 1128 unique titles challenged from January 1 through August 31, 2024.
Every year they compile a list of the ten most challenged books. I looked at the top 10 for 2023 and was not very familiar with most of them, since they are new books, mostly dealing with gender issues. The only two I knew well and had read were The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
Incidentally, the most banned book of all time is George Orwell’s 1984.
Only about 90 percent of book challenges are even reported. That said, the most frequently challenged books from 2010 through 2019 include these favorites:
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
How many of these have you read? I have read only about 30, so I am behind on my reading!
For the 2022-2023 school year, here are the states with the largest number of banned books:
Florida 1406
Texas 625
Missouri 333
Utah 281
Pennsylvania 186
South Carolina 127
Virginia 75
North Carolina 58
Please rewrite this sentence.
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