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Banned Books Week: Banned Books

Celebrate Banned Books Week with the University of Providence Library

Banned & Challenged Classics

The American Library Association's Office on Intellectual Freedom keeps track of challenges books.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker Ulysses, by James Joyce
Beloved, by Toni Morrison The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie 1984, by George Orwell

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Top Most Challenged Books for 2020

Most banned books 1990-1999

ALA's top 100 for 1990-1999

  1. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
  2. Daddy’s Roommate, by Michael Willhoite
  3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
  4. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
  5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
  6. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
  7. Forever, by Judy Blume
  8. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
  9. Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman
  10. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
  11. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
  12. My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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Most challenged books 2000-2009

ALA's list of most challenged books 2000-2009

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey

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