13 Banned Books Your Teens Should Definitely Read

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Each October, communities, libraries, and readers around the country take time to celebrate the freedom to read and reflect on current and historical attempts to ban or censor books. We are currently in the throws of Banned Books Week which is honored from Oct. 1-Oct. 7 this year.

The “celebration” comes just two weeks after nearly 200 celebrities came together to denounce book bans, citing the “chilling effect”of the “restrictive behavior.”

“We cannot stress enough how these censorious efforts will not end with book bans. It’s only a matter of time before regressive, suppressive ideologues will shift their focus toward other forms of art and entertainment, to further their attacks and efforts to scapegoat marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks,” reads the letter that was spearheaded by LeVar Burton and signed by Ariana Grande, Gabrielle Union, Margaret Cho, and more.

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!

Each year, the American Library Association releases a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books nationwide based on reports filed by library professionals, community members, and news stories. The ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022 — “[the data is] only a snapshot of book challenges — which they say is the highest number of attempted book bans since the association started tracking censorship attempts more than 20 years ago.

Below are the “Top 10” of 2022 — really it’s 13 since there were ties — that your teen should really read to better understand themselves and the people around them.

1. At the top of the list, we have the graphic novel Gender Queer: A Memoir (available at Amazon, Walmart, and Bookshop). It tells the story of Maia Kobabe’s self-identity journey and was challenged [at least] 151 times in 2022 because of LGBTQIA+ content and claims of sexual explicity.

2. All Boys Aren’t Blue (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) is a series of personal essays by LGBTQIA+ advocate George M. Johnson that was challenged [at least] 86 times for the same reasons as Gender Queer: A Memoir.

3. Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison’s first book, The Bluest Eye (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop), was challenged 73 times due to depictions of sexual abuse, EDI content, and claims of being sexually explicit. The novel follows a Black tween in America who desparately wants her eyes to turn blue so she will be considered beautiful.

4. Even though a fellow author has insisted Mike Curato’s Flamer (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) “will save lives,” it has been challenged 62 times for LGBTQIA+ content and claims of being sexually explicit. The graphic novel tells the story of a tween boy who is trying to find himself.

Tied for 5. Once again, people have their panties in a twist over LGBTQIA+ content and allegedly sexually explicit books. The coming-of-age novel Looking for Alaska (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) was challenged 55 times last year.

Tied for 5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) was also challenged 55 times. The novel — which is told through the form of high schooler’s letters and has since been turned into a movie — was sited for depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, and it was claimed to be sexually explicit.

7. Lawn Boy (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) was challenged 54 times for — you guessed it! —LGBTQIA+ content and claims of being sexually explicit. The New York Times Book Review has called the central character, Mike Muñoz, “a Holden Caulfield for a new millennium.

8. Profanity and claims of being sexually explicit are what got The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) challenged 52 times. The semiautobiographical novel follows a Nativa American teen who struggles to find himself when he transfers from the reservation school to a rich white school.

9. Out of Darkness (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) is a love story about two teens — one Mexican American and one Black — who live in a segregated town. It was challenged 50 times due to depictions of abuse and claims of being sexually explicit.

Tied for 10. A Court of Mist and Fury (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) — the second in a series of mystical books from Sarah J. Maas — was challenged 48 times for claims of being sexually explicit.

Tied for 10. Crank (available at Amazon, Walmart, and Bookshop) was also challenged 48 times. It’s the first novel in a trilogy of poetry books and was challenged because of drug use and (yet again) claims of being sexually explicit.

Tied for 10. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (available at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Bookshop) is another coming-of-age novel that has since been made into a film. It was challenged 48 times for profanity and claims of being sexually explicit.

Tied for 10. Yes, there were four books in 2022 that were vying for the number 10 spot! This Book is Gay (available at Amazon, Walmart, and Bookshop) — which is a young adult nonfiction book about sexuality and gender — was challenged 48 times because of LGBTQIA+ content, sexual education, and claims of being sexually explicit.

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