
“Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlighting current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.” -American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom (ALA OIF)
The ALA OIF has been collecting data on book bans and challenges since 1990. Every year they compile a list of the top 10 most challenged books of the year. These lists are created from information from media stories and voluntary reports from communities across the United States. Here are the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021.
#10 Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
“Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender identity. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken.” -Candlewick Press
#9 This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.
“Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who’s ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU.” – SourceBooks
#8 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
“NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner—a powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity that asks questions about race, class, and gender with characteristic subtly and grace.” – Penguin Random House
This book is available at Aurora Branch and on the Libby app!
#7 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.
“The New York Times bestselling novel that inspired the hit film! It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.” – Abrams Books
This book is available at the Aurora and Dillsboro Branches and on the Libby app!
#6 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and use of a derogatory term.
“Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.” -Little Brown and Company
This book is available at the Aurora Branch and the Libby app!
#5 The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and it was thought to promote an antipolice message and indoctrination of a social agenda.
“Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.” -HarperCollins Publishers
This book is available at the Aurora and Dillsboro Branches and on the Libby app!
#4 Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez

Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
“‘This is East Texas, and there’s lines. Lines you cross, lines you don’t cross. That clear?’ New London, TX. 1937. Naomi Vargas is Mexican American. Wash Fuller is Black. These teens know the town’s divisive racism better than anyone. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive.” -Holiday House
This book is available at the Aurora and Dillsboro Branches and on the Libby app!
#3 All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
“In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.” -MacMillan Publishers
#2 Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
“In this funny, biting, touching, and ultimately inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man determined to achieve the American dream of happiness and prosperity–who just so happens to find himself along the way.” -Workman Publishing
This book is not available at the Aurora Public Library District, but we would be happy to put in a Interlibrary Loan request for you!
#1 Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.
“Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, and bonding with friends over gay fanfiction.” -Oni Press
This book is not available at the Aurora Public Library District, but we would be happy to put in a Interlibrary Loan request for you!
Want more banned books? You can find the top 10 lists from previous years
here. The top 100 banned and challenged books from 2010-2019 can be found
here.