Banned Books Week is the annual celebration of the freedom to read. The 2016 celebration will be held September 25-October 1 and focus on diversity. The Banned Books Week Coalition is a national alliance of like-minded organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual celebration of the freedom to read. The Coalition seeks to engage various communities and inspire participation in Banned Books Week through education, advocacy, and the creation of programming about the problem of book censorship. This year, the national coalition is highlighting diversity. A high percentage of the titles on ALA’s Top Ten Challenged Books List continue to fall into the category of “diverse content.” While diversity is seldom given as a reason for a challenge, it seems, in fact, to be an underlying and unspoken factor. These challenged works are often about people and issues which include LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities—people or issues that, perhaps, challengers would prefer not to consider.

1. Frequently Challenged
or Banned Books:
DIVERSITY
Source: ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
2016 Banned Books Week

2. The Absolutely True Diary
of a Part-Time Indian
By Sherman Alexie
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Why Challenged:
• anti-family
• cultural insensitivity
• drugs/alcohol/smoking
• gambling
• offensive language
• sexually explicit
• unsuited for age group
• violence
• depictions of bullying
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

3. Beloved
By Toni Morrison
Alfred A. Knopf
Why Challenged:
• sexually explicit
• unsuited for age group
• violence
• racism
• bestiality
• language
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

4. Drama
By Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic
Why Challenged:
• “sexually explicit” (gay
characters)
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

5. I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings
By Maya Angelou
Random House Publishing Group
Why Challenged:
• racism
• homosexuality
• sexually explicit
• offensive language
• unsuited to age group
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

6. The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time
By Mark Haddon
Penguin Random House
Why Challenged:
• offensive language
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

7. The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead Books
Why Challenged:
• depictions of
homosexuality
• offensive language
• religious viewpoints
• sexually explicit scenes
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

8. The Miseducation of
Cameron Post
By emily m. danforth
HarperCollins
Why Challenged:
• profanity
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

9. The House of the Spirits
By Isabel Allende
Simon & Schuster
Why Challenged:
• sexually explicit
• offensive language
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

10. Whale Talk
By Chris Crutcher
HarperCollins
Why Challenged:
• profanity
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

11. Two Boys Kissing
By David Levithan
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Why Challenged:
• homosexuality
• “condones public displays
of affection”
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

12. Persepolis
By Marjane Satrapi
Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday
Why Challenged:
• gambling
• offensive language
• political viewpoint
• politically, racially, and
socially offensive
• graphic depictions
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

13. About Banned Books Week
The Banned Books Week Coalition is a national alliance of like-minded
organizations joined by a commitment to increase awareness of the annual
celebration of the freedom to read. The Coalition seeks to engage various
communities and inspire participation in Banned Books Week through
education, advocacy, and the creation of programming about the problem of
book censorship. The 2016 celebration will be held September 25-October 1.
This year, the national coalition is highlighting diversity. A high percentage of
the titles on ALA’s Top Ten Challenged Books List continue to fall into the
category of “diverse content.” While diversity is seldom given as a reason for
a challenge, it seems, in fact, to be an underlying and unspoken factor. These
challenged works are often about people and issues which include LGBTQIA,
people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural,
and religious minorities—people or issues that, perhaps, challengers would
prefer not to consider.
@BannedBooksWeek
#BannedBooksWeek

14. 2016 Banned Books Week
National Coalition