My favorite banned books
September 22-28 is the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. Books can be banned or challenged due to anything from profanity, nudity, or sex scenes to queer characters, religious themes, or political statements.
I’ve always been very vocal with my opinions, and there are plenty of books I hate and even wish had never been published. But part of the beauty of free speech and press is that anyone can publish those books, and I can be as loud as I want about why I hate them. (Looking at you, All the Bright Places.)
In honor of the right to read and freedom of the press, and in blatant defiance of censorship in its many forms in this and other countries, here are a few of my favorite books that have been banned or challenged around the world (not a complete list — there’s a lot of banned books out there!)
My favorite banned books
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Banned/challenged in many areas for promoting drug use, as well as sexual fantasies (based on the author’s rumored reputation). America and China both decried the “abomination” of talking animals.
My Sweet 16th was an upsey-daisy Alice in Wonderland party with crazy costumes, flowers with eyes, “eat me” mini cakes, and pin-the-smile-on-the-Cheshire-Cat. I’m a big fan.
Two Boys Kissing, David Levithan
I listened to this audiobook as a new baby queer while at my conservative Christian university. It felt like every line was a revelation, a fresh breath of air.
Challenged (and burned) by a few individual parents and activists for sexual content.
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Frequently challenged and banned for sexual behaviors, language, negative depiction of traditional morals (like family and marriage), drugs, and suicide. Most frequent complaint is the depiction of casual sex.
These complaints are ironic, considering Huxley’s depiction of an amoral, fun-chasing society is meant to challenge the reader and the idea that happiness is life’s goal.
Forever in Blue, Ann Brashares
Challenged by a parent for sexual content and alcohol.
I read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series in high school. This fourth book is definitely more mature than the others, reflecting the now-grown characters. It made me uncomfortable at the time, but in hindsight it’s a realistic look at coming-of-age that stays true to life and the characters.
The Hunger Games (series), Suzanne Collins
This series is so important to me that it’s referenced in my first tattoo. I’m not surprised, though, to find that a book series about children fighting to the death and a government starving its own citizens has been banned and challenged. The books were written to teach today’s teenagers about the horrors of war and the realities of individuals suffering from trauma and PTSD.
Literally every John Green book
I’m not sure if Turtles All the Way Down has been banned or challenged (yet), but award-winning Looking for Alaska, smash-hit The Fault in Our Stars, An Abundance of Katherines, and my personal favorite, Paper Towns, have all been banned/challenged. Green writes realistic teen lives in a philosophical narrative style, complete with sex, smoking, grief, anger, love, alcohol, destruction of property, lying to parents, and other classic elements of coming-of-age stories in America.
Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer
Yeah, yeah, sue me. I know the many problems with these books, and I still own the ultimate-fan-edition of all the white-covered books and purple box-set DVDs, plus The Psychology of Twilight and The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide.
The main reason for banning this book is sexual content, which is laughable. Sex happens only after marriage and behind closed doors. But protests on religious grounds (vampires are good, immortality, Meyer incorporates Mormon beliefs) make more sense. I’m a little surprised that, apparently, nobody’s challenged the abusive romantic relationships.
Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
Mostly banned/challenged for profanity, which I expected. Little baby Emily was definitely shocked reading some of the language in this book. Accusations of “witchcraft” have also been thrown around.
The book was better than the movie. Let’s leave it at that.
Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling
I wasn’t allowed to read these until I went off to college on my lonesome. I finished the whole series of books and DVDs within the first semester, which involved a lot of nights of little sleep.
While everyone knows the religious schools and families decrying witchcraft, other reasons these books have been challenged include lying, disobeying authority, and general rebellious teenage attitude.
Banned books on my TBR
My 100 Books list includes some banned and challenged books I plan to read in the next two years, too:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
Banned for sexual content by the Arizona Department of Corrections and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
Challenged for explicit sexual content and inclusion/depiction of rape.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston, South Carolina, for language and sexual references.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Banned/challenged in SO MANY places for many, many reasons, most of which boil down to language/profanity and racial content.
1984, George Orwell
Challenged in Florida for being pro-communist, and for sexual content.
Lady Chatterly’s Lover, D. H. Lawrence
Banned in several countries (Ireland, Poland, China, Japan, Australia, etc.) I’d guess the reason is probably all the explicit sex and adultery.
Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
Banned by Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, no reason given.
Spotlight banned book: Living Dead Girl
There’s one more banned book I want to share: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. I’ve never told anyone online about this book before. I read Living Dead Girl when I was about 12 or 13, which was unmistakably too young, but I didn’t know better. The scant information on the back was intriguing, and the cover was just a ribbon tied in a bow. Once I started reading, I couldn’t pull myself away.
“This is Alice’s story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.”
I wouldn’t say I’d recommend this book. It is not for the faint or heart or someone seeking a “good read.” But it is a gripping, real, powerful depiction of the life of an abused child. Alice was abducted at a young age and kept, malnourished and violently controlled, by a pedophile for five years.
The book being challenged and banned shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s read it, and it’s a good example for the conversation whether books really deserve to be banned or not. How does reading this story improve or enhance the reader? Does education about child abuse, molestation, and kidnapping really need such a graphic, specific narrative to get the message across? What if the wrong person — say, a 12-year-old sheltered girl, or a 60-year-old pedophile — gets their hands on this book?
I can’t answer all those questions. But I do know this story delivers on its promise: I have never forgotten Alice, and I doubt I ever will.
Conclusion
It’s interesting to me that so many of these books were banned or challenged for the content that makes them the stories they are. Of course To Kill a Mockingbird has racism and Speak has rape and Brave New World has sex. They’re integral elements of the story’s powerful message!
I support safe spaces and trigger warnings. Rape victims shouldn’t be required to read or analyze Speak, for example. But I don’t believe the world should stop printing or reading a story just because it challenges your worldview and morals or makes you uncomfortable. Reading would be a vapid, shallow world of entertainment lacking in meaning if all we could read was the content everyone okay’ed.
What are some of your favorite banned books?
