15 Banned Books That Deserve A Place On Everyone’s Reading List

Banning books isn’t anything new. Throughout history, authoritarian regimes have suppressed literature to shut down democratic ideas such as freedom of speech. Literature has always been an effective way of conveying a diversity of experiences to the general public while offering education about various subject matters.

Tony Marx, the President of The New York Public Library, noted the importance of public libraries in sharing literature and education.

“Since their founding, public libraries have combated the forces of ignorance and hate by making information and knowledge freely available to all,” he said. “We stand in solidarity with the library workers and communities across the country who are being censored and threatened.”

Marx refers to recent efforts to ban or challenge books across the United States. In 2022, the country saw the highest number of attempted book bans since the American Library Association started keeping records over 20 years ago. Last year, this number grew by 20%.

Both the ALA and the NYPL note that most books being banned or challenged are works written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Parents, school officials, and local governments often remove these books from school and public libraries.

These recent book bans come as efforts to implement conservative ideals into legislation have soared. This includes efforts to ban critical race theory and mentions of LGBTQ+ history in schools, the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the introduction of bills targeting queer people.

Below, you’ll find books that have been banned or challenged in recent years. This list includes classic works of literature, award-winning fiction, graphic novels relating to the author’s real-life experiences, as well as modern stories about marginalized communities. 

7. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Morrison’s first novel tells the story of Pecola, a young African American girl growing up in the 1940s. In response to her experience as a Black woman in Ohio, she yearns for blue eyes.

The novel has been one of the most challenged books since its publication in 1970, featuring themes of childhood sexual abuse and molestation. Reasons for the ban also include “disturbing language” and “an underlying socialist-communist agenda.”

8. The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman

This graphic novel recounts the real-life story of the author’s father, who survived the Holocaust as a Polish Jew. It won a Pulitzer Prize and is arguably one of the most important pieces of storytelling of the 20th century.

It was banned by a Tennessee school district for featuring “inappropriate language” and an illustration of a nude woman.

9. The Odyssey by Homer

This classic is one of the oldest existing works of literature. It features poems divided into 24 books telling the Ancient Greek myth of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, on his journey home after the Trojan War. This book is the blueprint for modern storytelling as it features epic tales of the Cyclopes, Calypso, giants, deadly sirens and more.

This classic was removed from a Massachusetts school curriculum in 2020 because it featured ideas considered to be offensive and opposed to modern norms of behavior.

10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This modern American classic recounts the story of a Black man being falsy accused of raping a white woman. The story is told from the point of view of a child during the Great Depression in Alabama.

The novel was challenged by a California school district for its use of the N-word and its portrayal of Black people. Some educators and defenders of the book say it opens up important conversations about systemic racism.

11. Beloved by Toni Morrison

After the Civil War, this novel recounts the story of Sethe, a woman born into slavery who escapes to Ohio. Throughout the years, she is haunted by both her memories and the ghost of her baby.

This novel has frequently been banned and challenged. Reasons cited for the bans are the inclusion of sexual content and depictions of violence. 

12. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

In this graphic novel, Satrapi recounts her experience growing up in Iran and Austria during the Islamic Revolution 1979. She tells her firsts as a girl and a young woman while touching on themes of religion, nationalism and political repression.

The book was challenged several times since 2013 as it was deemed inappropriate by Chicago Public Schools. It was then pulled from schools in both Illinois and Texas for its depiction of Muslim characters.

13. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

This graphic memoir chronicles the author’s journey into adulthood as they explore sexuality and their gender identity. It voices the experience of being nonbinary.

This book is one of the most banned books in the country for addressing the experience of LGBTQ+ individuals, with “sexual content” often cited as a reason for the bans.

14. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This dystopian novel recounts the story of Offred, who lives in a fictional America in which women’s rights are entirely suppressed, and women’s sole purpose is to serve their male counterparts by giving birth. The novel highlights themes of extremist religious beliefs, political repression, resistance and the fight for individual freedom.

The book is one of the most challenged and banned books in the country, with “sexual activity” used as a reason for the ban. In 2022, the author released an “unburnable” edition of the book after her work was pulled from schools across America.

15. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Published in 2003, this contemporary classic tells the story of a friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant in Kabul, Afghanistan. 

This novel has been subject to bans and challenges since its release because of “offensive language, sexually explicit [content], and unsuit[ability for] age group.”

16. Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

A Black teenage girl disappears and her best friend investigates what happened to her. The novel tackles the real-life issue of Black women disappearing with little to no investigation or media coverage.

A Texas school cited explicit language about sex as a reason for pulling the novel from its library.

17. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Junior, an aspiring cartoonist, leaves the Spokane Indian Reservation, where he grew up, to attend an all-white farm town high school where he is the only indigenous student.

The novel was banned in several schools for making references to masturbation, containing profanity and for alleged anti-Christian views.

18. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

This semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel follows Mike Muñoz, a young Mexican American man, through his experience of self-discovery and growing pains as a recent high school graduate. 

The novel is one of the most banned and challenged books in the country, with LGBTQ+ content and sexual language cited as reasons for the ban. Defenders of the book have highlighted that it tackles issues of race, sexual identity and capitalism.

19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This young adult novel follows Charlie, an introverted teenager in the 1990s, through his first year of high school. It features the universal themes of teen angst, relationships and wanting to belong.

The novel is one of the most banned books in the country for its mention of sexual abuse, LGBTQ+ content, drug use and profanity.

20. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

This historical young adult novel chronicles a love story between a teenage Mexican American girl and a teenage African American boy in 1930s Texas.

Published in 2015, the novel was challenged and banned for its depiction of racial violence and claims of sexually explicit content.

21. Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro

Xochit is made to wander the desert alone and tell her village’s stories when she comes across Emilia, the daughter of the town’s conqueror. This is a coming-of-age fantasy novel about love, finding a home, and stories coming to life in the desert.

This novel was banned from a Texas high school library for talking about racism and for featuring an LGBTQ+ relationship.