Banned Books Week is an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read and draws attention to the harms of censorship. Book bans occur when books are removed from libraries and schools in order to limit public access because a person or group objects to the content. Book challenges are attempts to remove books from libraries and schools; some are successful and result in a ban, while others are unsuccessful.
Book challenges and book bans in the United States have seen a dramatic increase since 2021, nowadays often targeting books that feature LGBTQIA+ themes. Check out the official Banned Books Week website for more information.
The books featured on this page are among the most frequently targeted books for challenges, restriction, and/or removal. Happy reading!
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit 
Challenged for: profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, rape, drugs, profanity
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community”
Challenged for: claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, rape
Challenged for: profanity and because it was claimed to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: depiction of sexual abuse, EDI content, and because it was claimed to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content and because it was claimed to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: drug use and because it was claimed to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: violence and other (“graphic images”)
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, sexual references
Challenged for: claimed to be biased against male students and contain a political viewpoint, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity
Challenged for: profanity and for “vulgarity and sexual overtones”
Challenged for: teen suicide
Challenged for: sexual violence and was thought to “lead to terrorism” and “promote Islam”
Challenged for: offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and “profanity and atheism”
Challenged for: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint, and considered “politically, racially, and socially offensive”
Challenged for: occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
Challenged for: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence
Challenged for: anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence
Challenged for: insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
Challenged for: sexual content, offensive language, unsuited to age group
Challenged for: sexually explicit
Challenged for: pro-communist, explicit sexual matter
Challenged for: explicit sexual scenes, violence, and profanity
Line graph shows a relatively flat line from 2014 to 2021, with a steep increase in book challenges after 2021.
Censorship on the Rise: The record-breaking number of unique titles targeted in 2023 marked a 65% increase over 2022. Prior to 2021, the average number of unique titles targeted per year was 273.
Public library collections came under increased scrutiny in 2023. A significant factor in the increase was that groups who had previously targeted materials in school libraries began bringing challenges to the same titles at their public library.
Statistics based on 1,247 cases with known locations.
In 2023, organized pressure groups used their power to try to empty library shelves of all books they deem inappropriate.
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