Banned Books
The descriptions of the books listed in this section on Banned Books is taken from Amazon descriptions. The reasons for being Challenged or Banned have been aggregated from information available online.
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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Formats: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook
Description from Amazon: Voted America’s Best-Loved Novel in PBS’s The Great American Read
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred
One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Initially criticized for its content, it has been more recently challenged for its portrayal of racism and concerns that it is “outdated and harmful” to students.
- Racial slurs and language
- Themes of rape and violence
- Depiction of racism as harmful and challenged the “white savior” narrative
- And some are concerned that the book could make some students uncomfortable by confronting complex themes and language
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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Formats: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook
Description on Amazon: First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize–winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into haves and have-nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes the very nature of equality and justice in America. As Don DeLillo has claimed, Steinbeck “shaped a geography of conscience” with this novel, where “there is something at stake in every sentence.” Beyond that—for emotional urgency, evocative power, sustained impact, prophetic reach, and continued controversy—The Grapes of Wrath is perhaps the most American of American classics.
Banned due to:
- Often labeled as communist propaganda due to anti-capitalist and pro-union message.
- Banned in parts of California (Kern County) due to what has been challenged as an unfair, negative picture of the region and treatment of migrant workers.
- Depicts the corruption of officials
- Profanity
- Sexual content
- References to witchcraft and atheism within the text.
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Formats: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, also available as an Audiobook on Audible
Description on Amazon: The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
NOT PERMANENTLY BANNED although challenged and removed in some school districts due to:
- Mature and Explicit Content
- LGBTQIA+ themes
- Parental Objections claim the book presents poor role models and is inappropriate for teenages
- Legal Challenges: Having faced frequent challenges, removal from school curricula is often temporary, and the book is most often reinstated after the review process.