This document summarizes challenges and bans of several famous novels in the United States due to themes around sexuality, profanity, violence and other topics deemed inappropriate by some communities and schools. Some of the books mentioned that faced bans or challenges include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Women's Health

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain (1884)
A year after its publication, Huck Finn was
called “trash and suitable only for the
slums.” Many opinions appear not to have
changed. Its suitability has come back under
fire immensely in the past twenty years.
Challenged or banned in twenty-six states
because of the use of the word “nigger”
throughout the book. In 2008 the book was
retained in Connecticut with the
requirement that teachers attend race
sensitivity seminars before reading the
book.

2. Moby Dick
by Herman Melville (1851)
Was it the whale semen?
The homoeroticism? In
1996 a Texas school
district banned the book
from its AP English lists
because it conflicted with
their community values.
We’re guessing it was the
whale semen.

3. The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck (1939)
Kern County, California has the great
honor both of being the setting of
Steinbeck’s novel and being the first place
where it was banned (1939). Objections to
profanity—especially goddamn and the
like—and sexual references continued
from then into the 1990s.
A work with international banning appeal:
the book was barred in Ireland in the 50s
and a group of booksellers in Turkey were
taken to court for “spreading propaganda”
in 1973.

4. The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger (1951)
Oh, Young Holden, favorite child of
the censor. Frequently removed from
classrooms and school libraries
because it is “unacceptable,”
“obscene,” “blasphemous,”
“negative,” “foul,” “filthy,” and
“undermines morality.”
And Holden always thought “people
never notice anything.”

5. Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury (1953)
How much would it cost to get
my hands on an expurgated
version of this book from Venado
Middle school in Irvine, CA in
which all the “hells” and “damns”
were blacked out? Hello, eBay?
It’s me, NCAC. Another
complaint said the book went
against objectors religious
beliefs.

6. Howl and other Poems
by Allen Ginsberg (1956)
Following in the footsteps of
other “Shaping America”
book Leaves of Grass by
Walt Whitman, Allen
Ginsberg’s boundary-pushing
poetic works were challenged
because of descriptions of
homosexual acts.

7. Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert E. Heinlein (1961)
The book was actually
retained after a 2003
challenge in Mercedes, TX
to the book’s adult themes.
However, parents were
subsequently given more
control over what their
child was assigned to read
in class.

8. In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote (1966)
The subject of controversy
in an AP English class in
Savannah, GA after a
parent complained about
sex, violence and
profanity. Banned but
brought back.

9. Our Bodies, Ourselves
by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (1971)
BODIES! LADIES!
VAGINAS! (apologies, Michigan)
Challenges ran from the book’s
publication into the mid-80s. One
Public Library lodged it “promotes
homosexuality and perversion.”
Please, people, the internet is
mixed company!