• 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.