Every year, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the top 10 most challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from confidential reports filed by library professionals and community members, as well as news stories published throughout the United States, but because many book challenges are not reported to the ALA or covered by the press, the data compiled by ALA represent only a snapshot of censorship attempts in libraries.
The data reported to the ALA in 2024 shows that the majority of book censorship attempts are now originating from organized movements. Pressure groups and government entities, including elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in schools and public libraries. Parents only accounted for 16% of demands to censor books, while 5% of challenges were brought by individual library users. The 120 titles most frequently targeted for censorship during 2024 are all identified on partisan book rating sites which provide tools for activists to demand the censorship of library books.
Perhaps in part due to this, the ALA recorded the third highest number of book challenges last year since tracking began in 1990: they documented 821 attempts to censor books and other materials across all library types. However, this is still a decrease compared to 2023, when a record high of 1,247 attempts were reported. It's also worth noting that many of the efforts to ban books are ineffective in the end: the vast majority of the books that complainants wish to see removed from schools, eventually remain on their shelves. Few, if any books, are actually 'banned', if we take the term to mean unobtainable within the United States. Still, the ongoing challenges to the written word and to librarians providing it, are concerning to many.
The most common arguments for censorship provided by complainants were false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes; and covering topics of race, racism, equity, and social justice. With libraries being vital institutions to many communities and playing a prominent role regarding access to information and intellectual freedom, and with a strong awareness of information ethics in mind, the Erasmus University Library acquired all the targeted books on the 2024 list and all titles are available for loan. These books are a valuable addition to the diverse literature collections available at the library.
Keeping into account multiple titles tied for the same place this year, here are the top-10 of most challenged books over 2024, according to ALA data:
Journalist and activist George M. Johnson's book All boys aren't blue is a young adult 'memoir-manifesto', detailing his own youth as a queer Black man and directly addressing kids growing up in similar circumstances. The book discusses, among other topics, consent, agency, and sexual abuse. It also contains two sexual encounters and statutory rape. In Florida, a member of the school board filed a report with the Sherriff's Office, claiming the book violates state obscenity laws and stating she was particularly concerned about the book's "detailed descriptions" of masturbation, oral sex and sodomy. Even though the committee appointed to review the book deemed it "appropriate for use", the book was banned "for now" from all schools in the county by the school's superintendent.
Having only moved down one position since last year, Maia Kobabe's graphic novel continues to be one of the most challenged books according to the American Library Association. In several high school board meetings, criticism seems to focus mostly on one panel depicting an erotic scene on a Greek urn, which some parents deem pornographic. However, sceptics point out that this is part of a growing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. As one county official in Illinois tells the Chicago Daily Herald: "The words we're hearing are not different from what we're seeing in other parts of the country with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that's being pursued. And we know that this language is dangerous. It causes violence."
Kobabe, who identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns e, em, eir (known as Spivak pronouns), wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post responding to the controversy. Recollecting eir own journey to understanding eir identity, e underlines the importance of having access to a library with books by non-binary authors in which e could recognize eir own experience: "Queer youth are often forced to look outside their own homes, and outside the education system, to find information on who they are. Removing or restricting queer books in libraries and schools is like cutting a lifeline for queer youth, who might not yet even know what terms to ask Google to find out more about their own identities, bodies and health."
The oldest book on the list, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's The bluest eye has faced criticism since 1970 and has been on the most challenged book list for decades. Morrison's debut novel has come under fire for its depiction of racism and for containing sexually explicit content, including sexual abuse and rape, making it not appropriate for school-age children according to some parents and teachers.
The bluest eye tells the story of Pecola, a young African-American girl growing up in Ohio following the Great Depression. She is consistently told that she is ugly because of her dark skin, fueling her desire for blue eyes, which she equates with whiteness. On her reasons for writing this novel, Morrison said: "I felt compelled to write this mostly because in the 1960s, black male authors published powerful, aggressive, revolutionary fiction or nonfiction, and they had positive racially uplifting rhetoric with them that were stimulating and I thought they would skip over something and thought no one would remember that it wasn't always beautiful."
“I wondered why so many students have mental health issues, bad disciplinary problems. I believe they are being poisoned by what they hear and what they read," was the statement from Board Chair Kevin Adams when voting to ban The perks of being a wallflower from Florida's Northview High School. The book by Stephen Chbosky is a coming-of-age novel written as a series of letters from its main character, Charlie, to an unnamed friend. In these letters, Charlie writes about his struggles with relationships, substance abuse, mental health, and identity. Today, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is still subjected to multiple bans for including topics like drug use, teenage sex, sexual abuse, and abortion.
In an interview with the National Coalition Against Censorship, Chbosky commented: “This book is my love letter and wish for every kid who is struggling with identity, because at the time I was writing it, I was struggling with my own.”
The verse novel Tricks, which tells the stories of five individual teenagers and their struggle to survive on the fringes of society, was challenged for some of its sexually explicit passages, and topics such as drugs, rape, and LGBTQ+ content.
In an interview, author Ellen Hopkins said it’s better to address issues rather than ignore them and pretend they don’t exist, as the people calling for bans are, according to her, trying to do. “To say this stuff won’t happen if they don’t read about it, I mean, I just don’t even know where the logic is. [...] I’m there to help them make better choices, better decisions. And that’s my whole point to writing," she said, referencing the expansion of her work into school presentations where she shares the stories with students in a learning environment.
John Green's Looking for Alaska, a coming-of-age novel that explores themes of meaning, grief, hope, and the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash, has been challenged for many years already. Arguments for its banning include depictions of “alternate sexualities” and “gender ideology”, despite the absence of LGBTQ+ characters.
Green himself has said he will never grow used to having his books, some of which feature teen romance and intimacy, labeled pornography. It was especially jarring for him to see these accusations cause his books, and many others, to be re-shelved into the adult section of libraries in his home state of Indiana. “It’s always pretty tough for me,” he said. “But it’s certainly a little harder when it’s in your hometown, and you’re conscious of the fact that you have to walk around the grocery store with those people. [...] I believe very strongly in the freedom of expression and in teenagers’ rights to read, and I feel very strongly that other parents shouldn’t have any say in what my kids get to read.”
Jesse Andrew's book Me and Earl and the dying girl depicts the high-school friendships of two boys and a girl who is suffering from cancer. It was published in 2012 and a film adaptation came out in 2015, but it only entered the top 10 of the most challenged books list in 2021. The book has faced challenges because of profanity and language considered degrading to women, as well as sexually explicit scenes. The author has reacted on Twitter that these book bans are "picking up momentum" and are "fearful purity-obsessed parents and opportunistic politicians are makings kids' lives worse."
The second novel by Ellen Hopkins to appear in the top 10, challenged again due to depictions of drug use and claims of being sexually explicit. Even as complainants argue that the topics within the novel are not suited for teens, Hopkins based the protagonist of Crank partially on her own daughter, who struggled with drug addiction herself. Similarly to the conversation surrounding her novel Tricks, Hopkins argues for the importance of "shedding light on these issues because that's the only way we're going to develop empathy for people who are going through them."
Patricia McCormick's novel details the story of a girl from Nepal who is sold into sexual slavery in India. While the characters may be fictional, the novel sheds light on a very real problem which puts it in the realm of realistic fiction. The novel faced challenges because of its depictions of rape and sexually explicit scenes.
McCormick wrote a New York Times opinion piece about the opposition her work has faced. She writes: "To ban this book is [not just dishonoring the girls I interviewed in India and Nepal who had been sold into slavery, but is also disrespectful to the teenagers who want and in some cases need to read it. I’ve visited classrooms and juvenile detention centers all over the country since the book came out in 2006. At nearly all the visits, students come forward to say that they have been sexually abused or are being sexually abused — and that seeing their experience rendered in a book finally emboldened them to say so. [...] That’s what is consistently missing in the national conversation about book banning: the voices of those children and teenagers who see their experiences in print and finally realize they aren’t alone."
Mike Curato's graphic novel Flamer tells the story of Aiden Navarro, a 14-year-old boy away at Boy Scout Camp, who is coming to grips with his sexuality. The book has been singled out by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the book banning group Moms for Liberty, whose concerns include that it contains “alternate sexualities.”
What gets lost in that conversation, Curato said, is that Flamer is a book about suicide prevention. “This is a book about telling someone that regardless of how someone may disagree with who you are as a person, you still deserve to be here. There is a place for you, and no one has the right to take that away.”
- Find and request these books and more via our online catalogue. You may also propose titles for acquisition.