One Hundred Most Banned Books
Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019
Click on titles to learn more about each book on Amazon *
| Title | Author | Reasons to Ban | Published | ||
| 1 | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Sherman Alexie | Content regarding alcohol, bullying, violence; sexual references; profanity and slurs; allegations against the author | 2007 | |
| 2 | Captain Underpants (series) | Dav Pilkey | Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence | 1997–2015 | |
| 3 | Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher | Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group | 2007 | |
| 4 | Looking for Alaska | John Green | Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group. | 2005 | |
| 5 | George | Alex Gino | Includes a transgender child, and the "sexuality was not appropriate at elementary levels" | 2015 | |
| 6 | And Tango Makes Three | Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell | Content regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage | 2005 | |
| 7 | Drama | Raina Telgemeier | Includes LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit, and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint | 2012 | |
| 8 | Fifty Shades of Grey | E. L. James | Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other ("poorly written," "concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it") | 2011 | |
| 9 | Internet Girls (series) | Lauren Myracle | Offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group | 2004–2007 | |
| 10 | The Bluest Eye | Toni Morrison | Themes of racism, incest and child sexual abuse | 1970 | |
| 11 | The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini | Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence | 2003 | |
| 12 | Hunger Games | Suzanne Collins | Religious viewpoint, dark themes/violence, unsuited to age group | 2008–2010 | |
| 13 | I Am Jazz | Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel | Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group | 2014 | |
| 14 | The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Stephen Chbosky | Drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group,"date rape and masturbation" | 1999 | |
| 15 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee | Offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group | 1960 | |
| 16 | Bone (series) | Jeff Smith | References to smoking, drinking and gambling | 1991–2004 | |
| 17 | The Glass Castle | Jeannette Walls | Offensive language, sexually explicit | 2005 | |
| 18 | Two Boys Kissing | David Levithan | Homosexuality and other ("condones public displays of affection"). Also considered to include sexually explicit LGBT content | 2013 | |
| 19 | A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo | Jill Twiss | LGBTQIA+ content, political and religious viewpoints | 2018 | |
| 20 | Sex is a Funny Word | Cory Silverberg | LGBTQIA+ content, discussing gender identity and sex education, concerns that the title and illustrations were “inappropriate,” believed to lead children to “want to have sex or ask questions about sex” | 2015 | |
| 21 | Alice (series) | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | Sexual content | 1985-2013 | |
| 22 | It's Perfectly Normal | Robbie H | Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: "alleges it is child pornography" | 1994 | |
| 23 | Nineteen Minutes | Jodi Picoult | Sexual references, profanity, and violence, including bullying and suicide | 2007 | |
| 24 | Scary Stories (series) | Alvin Schwartz | Unsuited for age group, violence | 1981-1991 | |
| 25 | Speak | Laurie Halse Anderson | References to rape | 1999 | |
| 26 | A Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | Anti-religion and anti-family themes, sexual content | 1931 | |
| 27 | Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out | Susan Kuklin | Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other ("wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints") | 2014 | |
| 28 | Of Mice and Men | John Stein | Offensive language, racism, violence | 1937 | |
| 29 | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood | Sexuality, profanity, suicide, violence, anti-Christian themes | 1985 | |
| 30 | The Hate U Give | Angie Thomas | Profanity, violence, "thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda | 2017 | |
| 31 | Fun Home | Alison Bechdel | Violence and other ("graphic images"). | 2006 | |
| 32 | It's a Book | Lane Smith | Because of the word, 'jackass', at the end of the book | 2010 | |
| 33 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | Coarse language, racial stereotypes and use of the N-word | 1884 | |
| 34 | The Things They Carried | Tim O'Brien | Violence, animal abuse, obscene language, and criticism of the Vietnam War | 1990 | |
| 35 | What My Mother Doesn't Know | Sonya Sones | Nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, sexism, unsuited to age group | 2001 | |
| 36 | A Child Called "It" | Dave Pelzer | Child abuse | 1995 | |
| 37 | Bad Kitty (series) | Nick Bruel | Crude language, sexual content, mature themes | 2005-2021 | |
| 38 | Crank | Ellen Hopkins | Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit | 2004 | |
| 39 | Nickel and Dimed | Barbara Ehrenreich | Drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint | 2001 | |
| 40 | Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi | Gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: "politically, racially, and socially offensive," "graphic depictions" | 2000-2003 | |
| 41 | The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby | Dav Pilkey | Encouraging poor spelling | 2002 | |
| 42 | This Day in June | Gayle E. Pitman | LGBT content | 2013 | |
| 43 | This One Summer | Mariko Tamaki | Includes LGBT characters, drug use and profanity, and considered sexually explicit with mature themes | 2014 | |
| 44 | A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl | Tanya Lee Stone | Crude language, sexual content, mature themes | 2006 | |
| 45 | Beloved | Toni Morrison | Themes regarding slavery and violence | 1987 | |
| 46 | Goosebumps (series) | R. L. Stine | Supernatural themes, violence, and encouraging disobedience | 1992-1997 | |
| 47 | In Our Mother's House | Patricia Polacco | Non-traditional nature of the family depicted in the book and the fact that the family has two moms | 2009 | |
| 48 | Lush | Natasha Friend | Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group | 2006 | |
| 49 | The Catcher in the Rye | J. D. Salinger | Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group | 1951 | |
| 50 | The Color Purple | Alice Walker | Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group | 1982 | |
| 51 | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time | Mark Haddon | Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other ("profanity and atheism") | 2003 | |
| 52 | The Holy Bible | Religious viewpoint, violence | 3rd cent. | ||
| 53 | This Book is Gay | Juno Dawson | LGBTQIA+ content, provides sexual education | 2014 | |
| 54 | Eleanor & Park | Rainbow Rowell | Offensive language | 2013 | |
| 55 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | Jonathan Safran Foer | Extremely vulgar detailing sexual acts, profanity, and descriptions of violence | 2005 | |
| 56 | Gossip Girl (series) | Cecily von Ziegesar | Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit | 2002-2011 | |
| 57 | House of Night (series) | P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast | The entire teen vampire series was banned for sexual content and nudity | 2007-2014 | |
| 58 | My Mom's Having a Baby | Dori Hillestad Butler | Nudity, sex education, sexual content, and unsuitable for age group | 2005 | |
| 59 | Neonomicon | Alan Moore | Ritualistic sex, psychiatric disorders | 2010 | |
| 60 | The Dirty Cowboy | Amy Timberlake | illustrations, involving a cartoon cowboy taking his annual bath | 2003 | |
| 61 | The Giver | Lois Lowr | Obscene language, sexual content, violence, and unsuitable to age group | 1993 | |
| 62 | Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl | Anne Frank | Discussions of puberty and teenage sexuality | 1946 | |
| 63 | Bless Me Ultima | Rudolfo Anaya | Profanity, crude language and violence | 1972 | |
| 64 | Draw Me a Star | Eric Carle | one of the illustrations shows a naked man and woman | 1992 | |
| 65 | Dreaming in German | Cristina Garcia | Sexual content and nude drawings of Adam and Eve | 1992 | |
| 66 | Fade | Lisa McMann | References to child sexual abuse, and violence | 1988 | |
| 67 | The Family Book | Todd Parr | depiction of same sex couples | 2003 | |
| 68 | Feed | M. T. Anderson | explicit language and a few mild sexual moments | 2002 | |
| 69 | Go the Fuck to Sleep | Adam Mansbach | Offensive language | 2011 | |
| 70 | Habibi | Craig Thompson | Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group | 2011 | |
| 71 | House of the Spirits | Isabel Allende | Sexual content | 1982 | |
| 72 | Jacob's New Dress | Sarah Hoffman | LGBT content | 2014 | |
| 73 | Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov | References to pedophillia and sexual abuse | 1955 | |
| 74 | Monster | Walter Dean Myers | language, violence, and sexual overtures | 1999 | |
| 75 | Nasreen's Secret School | Jeanette Winter | Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence | 2009 | |
| 76 | Saga | Brian K. Vaughn | Anti-family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group | 2012-now | |
| 77 | Stuck in the Middle | Ariel Schrag | objections to its language as well as references to drugs, alcohol, and sex | 2007 | |
| 78 | The Kingdom of Little Wounds | Susann Cokal | sexual references, cultural insensitivity, profanity | 2013 | |
| 79 | 1984 | George Orwell | Pro- and anti-Communist views, sexual content, and violence | 1949 | |
| 80 | A Clockwork Orange | Anthony Burgess | Obscene language | 1962 | |
| 81 | Almost Perfect | Brian Katcher | LGBT content | 2009 | |
| 82 | The Awakening | Kate Chopin | Sexual content | 1899 | |
| 83 | Burned | Ellen Hopkins | Supernatural and occult themes, anti-family, encourages disobedience | 2006 | |
| 84 | Ender's Game | Orson Scott Card | violence, language, and renouncing of religion | 1985 | |
| 85 | Fallen Angels | Walter Dean Myers | Offensive language, racism, violence | 1988 | |
| 86 | Glass | Ellen Hopkins | Drugs | 2007 | |
| 87 | Heather Has Two Mommies | Leslea Newman | Homosexuality | 1989 | |
| 88 | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Maya Angelou | Incest, Sexual Content | 1969 | |
| 89 | Madeline and the Gypsies | Ludwig Bemelmans | Slur | 1958 | |
| 90 | My Princess Boy | Cheryl Kilodavis | LGBT content | 2009 | |
| 91 | Prince & Knight | Daniel Haack | LGBTQ, gay marriage; being “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children”, conflicting with a religious viewpoint | 2018 | |
| 92 | Revolutionary Voices | Amy Sonnie | Homosexuality, sexually explicit | 2000 | |
| 93 | Skippy Jon Jones (series) | Judith Schachner | Depicting stereotypes of Mexican culture | 2001-now | |
| 94 | So Far From the Bamboo Grove | Yoko Kawashima Watkins | References to rape and violence against women | 1986 | |
| 95 | The Color of Earth | Dong Hwa Kim | Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group | 2009 | |
| 96 | The Librarian of Basra | Jeanette Winter | Violence, unsuited to age group, promotion of Islam, "un-American" content | 2005 | |
| 97 | The Walking Dead (series) | Robert Kirkman | Graphic content, violence, harsh language, and sexual content. | 2004-2019 | |
| 98 | Tricks | Ellen Hopkins | drug use, sexual themes and language | 2009 | |
| 99 | Uncle Bobby's Wedding | Sarah S Brannen | LGBT themes | 2008 | |
| 100 | Year of Wonders | Geraldine Brooks | witchcraft, madness, and repressed sexuality | 2001 |
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