These are the 13 books people tried to ban the most in 2022.
Today, the American Library Association has published its annual list of the Most Challenged Books—those most often targeted for banning in schools and public libraries.
As you may already know if you’ve been paying even the slightest bit of attention, book banning efforts are in high gear right now; ALA saw more reports of censorship in 2022 than ever before: 2,571 different titles were targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from 2021. “Most of the targeted books,” the ALA said in a press release, “were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.”
“By releasing the list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books each year, ALA recognizes all of the brave authors whose work challenges readers with stories that disrupt the status quo and offer fresh perspectives on tough issues,” said ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada in the same release. “The list also illustrates how frequently stories by or about LGBTQ+ persons, people of color, and lived experiences are being targeted by censors. Closing our eyes to the reality portrayed in these stories will not make life’s challenges disappear. Books give us courage and help us understand each other.”
Here’s the list:
1. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe (2019)
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
2. All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson (2020)
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
3. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (1970)
Reasons: depiction of sexual abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content
4. Flamer, by Mike Curato (2020)
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
5. (TIE) Looking for Alaska, by John Green (2005)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content
5. (TIE) The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, depiction of sexual abuse, drugs, profanity
7. Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison (2018)
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (2007)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
9. Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Perez (2015)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit
10. (TIE) A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas (2016)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit
10. (TIE) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins (2004)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs
10. (TIE) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews (2012)
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
10. (TIE) This Book is Gay, by Juno Dawson (2014)
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
[via ALA]
