S-Collection Home > Find Children’s Books > Additional Sources > Challenged Children’s Books
The titles on the lists linked to above were taken from two sources, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the American Library Association’s (ALA) lists of most frequently challenged books. Titles were divided into three reading levels: picture books, children’s books (including early readers & chapter books), and young adult books. Books were grouped into a particular level based on their NoveList classification. In those few cases where books did not appear in NoveList, level was determined by checking Amazon. Likewise, most synopses were taken from NoveList or, when unavailable, the notes field of OCLC WorldCat records.
For more information on censorship, a longer list of books that have been challenged, and rationales in defense of challenged books, check NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Center. In addition, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) collects information about which comic books and graphic novels are challenged.
ALA’s site has information about frequently challenged books, Banned Books Weeks, and a link to statistical graphs of known challenges divided by initiator, institution, type of challenge, and year. There are also links to infographics that are free to download, displaying book challenge information in accessible images. ALA’s Freedom to Read Foundation site may also be useful.
ALA’s Challenge Support site walks readers through how to respond to a challenge, the reconsideration process, reporting a challenge, and more. It also provides a toolkit for libraries working to create or update their selection and reconsideration policies. Similarly, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has a Book Censorship Action Kit for fighting challenges to books in schools that is aimed at students, educators, parents, and authors.
Children’s books are often subject to book challenges and censorship attempts. The following resources contain information specific to children’s book bans as well as book banning in general.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Lists and bibliographies of banned books
- Resources for researching banned books
- Resources for responding to book challenges
LISTS AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF BANNED BOOKS
ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom. (Online)
The American Library Association (ALA)’s Office of Intellectual Freedom has been compiling lists of frequently banned books since the 1990s. Both recent and historical lists of banned books are available on their website.
- Top 10 and Frequently Challenged Books Archive
- Contains lists of top 10 most challenged book for each individual year 2001-2022. Contains field reports for most challenged books for each individual year 2012-2022.
- The website also contains drop-down lists of frequently challenged books in the categories of: children’s books, young adult books, classics, and books with diverse content.
- Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 1990-1999
- Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 2000-2009
- Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 2010-2019
- Most Recently Available Top 10 List
- Contains the most recent year’s top 10 list of most challenged books compiled by the ALA.
Many of these lists are exhaustive/comprehensive and contain books intended for any audience, such as an adult audience, alongside children’s and young adult books. If you are specifically looking for challenged books intended for youth audiences, see the S-Collection’s lists of challenged books in the specific categories of picture books, chapter books, and young adult books.
S.323.445 Sca44bo 2021
Books Under Fire: A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children’s Books. 2021
Resource to support librarians and teachers who are dealing with book challenges; also gives suggestions on how to discuss with young readers the social issues often at the heart of book challenges. Each featured challenged book includes a plot summary and review, details of challenges, list of awards, and further reading and online resources. Includes an index and six appendices with information on the first amendment, book censorship, the top 100 most banned or challenged books from 2000-2009, banned children’s classics, challenged Caldecott medal books, and challenged Newbery medal books. 2015 version also available from Oak Street; request online.
S.323.445 Am35hch
Hit List For Children 2: Frequently Challenged Books. 2002. (Available online)
S.323.445 Am35hyou
Hit List for Young Adults 2: Frequently Challenged Books. 2002. (Available online)
The Hit List series is a select listing of frequently challenged books compiled by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. Entries include a list of and rationale for challenges, awards and prizes won, and a bibliography of reviews.
National Council of Teachers of English. (Online)
The National Council of Teachers of English is an organization that supports English instructors and their students. Their Intellectual Freedom Center has been researching and combatting book censorship since the 1950s. They have made available lists of frequently challenged books in certain ranges of years.
PEN America Index of School Book Bans – 2022-2023. (Online)
PEN (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists) America is a nonprofit organization that advocates for freedom of expression, both nationally and abroad. As a part of this work, they compiled an online index of book bans that occurred in the United States during the 2022-2023 school year. The index contains book titles and authors, the location of challenge (state and school district), the status of the ban, and the origin of the challenge. The index is searchable. PEN has also compiled statistics on the banned books. An index for the 2021-2022 school year is also available.
Read Banned Books. (Online)
Contains frequently updated list of books subject to recent ban attempts. Contains links to banned books available to read for free online. Selecting a book on this site will lead to information and articles about past and recent ban attempts. Part of University of Pennsylvania librarian John Mark Ockerbloom’s website The Online Books Page, which is an index of over 2 million books one can read for free online.
RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING BANNED BOOKS
Z658.U6 D69 2017
Banned Books: Defending Our Freedom to Read. 2017.
Explains the phenomena of book challenges and their relationship to the First Amendment. Contains information on how to respond to or protect the right to read. Includes a reading list of challenged books, the top 10 most challenged books of 2016, and award-winning challenged books.
025.213 F685b2002 (Main Stacks)
Banned in the USA: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. 2002.
Describes 11 major book banning incidents and contains interviews of authors who have written banned books. Contains an annotated list of the fifty most challenged books from 1996-2000.
Z711.4 .K65 2015
Book Banning in 21st-Century America. 2015. (Available online)
Using the examples of 15 recent book challenges in the United States, this book provides an explanation for why people attempt to censor books. Uses three sources of information: Documents produced during challenge cases, recordings of public hearings regarding book challenges, and interviews with book challengers themselves.
Z675.S3 B633 2019
Controversial Books in K-12 Classrooms and Libraries: Challenged, Censored, Banned. 2019.
Discusses the history of book banning and challenges in American classrooms and libraries since the 1950s. Argues for the value of including controversial material in classroom curricula.
RESOURCES FOR RESPONDING TO BOOK CHALLENGES
American Library Association: Challenge Support. (Online)
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom provides confidential support for librarians who are facing book challenges. Contains toolkits and guidelines for those facing censorship challenges. Non-librarians are encouraged to report censorship to the ALA.
National Coalition Against Censorship: NCAC’s Book Censorship Action Kit. (Online)
Contains resources for those who are experiencing a book ban or who want to defend the right to read. Specific resources are available for activists, authors, educators, librarians, students, and more. Resources include lesson plans on free speech, guidelines for writing policy on material, and handbooks for responding to book challenges. Contains avenues for reporting book censorship.
National Council of Teachers of English: Book Rationales. (Online)
The National Council of Teachers of English is an organization that supports English instructors and their students. This database contains defenses one can use to support the inclusion of a book in a classroom or library collection, otherwise known as a “book rationale.” Over 1,300 rationales are available. Rationales are searchable by title, author, and grade level. Must have an account to view the rationales; accounts are free and require inputting one’s first and last name and email address.
PEN America: Book Ban Resources. (Online)
PEN (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists) America is a nonprofit organization that advocates for freedom of expression, both nationally and abroad. Their Book Ban Resources webpage contains information and tips for those fighting book censorship. Also contains avenues for reporting book censorship.
