Banned Books Week 2023 - Spokane Public Library (2024)

FAQs

What is the most banned book of 2023? ›

1. Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins, 33 bans.

Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color. The theme for Banned Books Week 2023 is "Let Freedom Read." When we ban books, we're closing off readers to people, places, and perspectives.

This is the list of the most banned books in the first part of the 2022-2023 school year, according to the PEN America Index of School Book Bans. Gender Queer: A Memoir remained at the top of the list, as it was in the 2021-2022 school year, joined this time by Flamer.

LeVar Burton, Honorary Chair

In 2023, Burton premiered his first documentary, The Right to Read, a film that positions the literacy crisis in America as a civil rights issue. The Right to Read was officially selected at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and SXSW Edu.

Some school districts aimed to ban the book from schools because they believed the book has unsuitable topics for children to read about. One major complaints was that the story portrayed talking animals that can communicate and act just like humans.

Huckleberry Finn banned immediately after publication

Immediately after publication, the book was banned on the recommendation of public commissioners in Concord, Massachusetts, who described it as racist, coarse, trashy, inelegant, irreligious, obsolete, inaccurate, and mindless.

He later achieved international recognition with his "Captain Underpants" series, which was adapted as a film. The "Captain Underpants" books are among the American Library Association's list of the top 100 most banned and challenged books from the past decade, due to complaints from parents about violent imagery.

There were concerns over the violence and increasingly dark tone of the later books but most of the censorship attempts were for religious reasons. It was also banned in some Christian schools in the UK.

The main reasons why The Giver was banned or challenged include the violent content related to euthanasia, suicide, and infanticide, and the sexually suggestive content in the novel.

So, why was "The Catcher in the Rye" banned? For plenty of reasons. Critical readers have accused it of being blasphemous, racist, misogynist, and ableist. Many parents have worried that the overwhelmingly negative content of Caulfield's stream of consciousness will be a bad influence on their children.

Why is the color purple banned? ›

What's so explicit about “The Color Purple?” The book touches on religious objections, hom*osexuality, violence, African history, rape, and has explicit language and some sexual scenes.

Texas is the state with the most book bans by far, with 438 in the 2022 fall semester. Here is the master list of book bans by state, according to PEN America: Texas — 438.

Overwhelmingly, book banners continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. In this six-month period, 30% of the unique titles banned are books about race, racism, or feature characters of color.

This novel is not banned. Sometimes Fahrenheit 451 is challenged and asked to be removed because it contains vulgar language and content. Some people may take offense to the content due to conflicting moral, ethical, or religious beliefs.

Over the years, Morrison's novel has been one of the most banned and challenged books, according to the American Library Association. Individuals challenge The Bluest Eye for its depiction of sexual abuse and because they claim it is sexually explicit.

The best-selling print book in the United States in 2023 ranked by unit sales was "It Ends With Us" by Colleen Hoover, with a total of just over 1.29 million sales. Other successful books which sold well that year included two more by Hoover, including "It Starts With Us" and "Verity".

The banning and censoring of the Bible has a long and multifaceted history that continues to this day, and although it is not typically included within popular lists of banned books, it is safe to assert that the Bible is the most banned and censored book in history.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller for "a handful of racial slurs, the characters speak with typical 'military men' misogyny and racist attitudes of the time. There are scenes of violence both hand to hand and with guns, and violence against women." The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien for "profanity and sexual references".

The famous Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling was banned on multiple occasions. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published in 1997. In 2001, the book was banned because of ”satanism and anti-family themes.” In 2002-2004, the book was banned for its focus on wizardry and magic.