This year, Banned Books Week runs from October 1st to the 7th. It aims to draw attention to the growing number of challenges, and outright censorship of books in schools and libraries. On the American Library Associations website you can find more information about the history of this event, infographics about book challenges by state, as well as an archive of the top ten most challenged books dating back to 2001.

To help you celebrate, here are five banned books you can check out from our collection.

1. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson. Inspired by Toni Morrison’s maxim “if there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it”, Johnson wrote All Boys Aren’t Blue as a memoir of his experiences growing up as a gay African American man. This book holds the 2nd spot on the Most Challenged List for 2022, facing 86 challenges for LGBT+ content, and supposed sexual explicitness.
2. Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Told in verse, Crank is a slightly fictionalized retelling of Hopkins daughter’s addiction to crystal methamphetamine, and the impact it had on her and those around her. Crank holds the 10th spot on Most Challenged List for 2022, facing 48 challenges for drug use and supposedly being sexually explicit. Crank is the first of a three book series, and is followed by Glass.
3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Taking place in Morrison’s hometown, The Bluest Eye was born out of Morrison’s desire to write about black girlhood. The Bluest Eye is not a light or easy read, and contains themes of internalized racism, shame, and childhood sexual abuse; but one cannot deny that in spite of or because of these things, there is literary value to this. It has appeared on numerous Most Challenged List, and holds the 3rd spot on the Most Challenged List of 2022.
4. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. The Hate U Give is Thomas’ debut novel, and expansion on a short story she wrote while in college. It follows Star Carter, who witnesses the police shooting of one of her friends. Like many popular YA novels, there is a young heroine who is subject to chaos or injustice, and rises to confront it. The Hate U Give did not make the Most Challenge List for 2022, but was the 5th most challenged book in 2021, and the 10th most challenged book in 2020 – the year of it’s publication.
5. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Originally published in 1999, this novel follows Melinda Sordino through her freshman year as an outcast, as she grapples with being sexually assaulted at a party the summer before. In the 20th anniversary edition of Speak, Anderson is quoted as saying “censoring books that deal with difficult, adolescent issues does not protect anybody. Quite the opposite. It leaves kids in the darkness and makes them vulnerable. Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them.” Speak does not appear on the Most Challenged List of 2022, but peaked as the 4th most challenged book of 2020.

As you look through this list, and the list provided by the American Library Association, do you see any themes? Do you see any books you would like to read?