September 22–28 is Banned Books Week 2024, and this year's theme is "Freed Between the Lines." This important observance began in 1982 in response to a surge in book challenges in libraries, schools, and bookstores with the aim of bringing together the literary and education communities under the shared goal of open access to information and knowledge.
At a time when library collections are increasingly under scrutiny by political groups seeking to limit people's access to free and open information, it is more important than ever to exercise our freedom to read. For a breakdown of recent book ban efforts, the American Library Association (ALA) compiled interesting and alarming Censorship by the Numbers data.
The harms of censorship are far-reaching and risk creating a world in which people are incurious and uninspired. To combat this, here is a list of some of the most widely challenged books of the past year that are available in the Free Library's catalog:
Gender Queer: A Memoir (2019) by Maia Kobabe
In 2014, Maia Kobabe (who uses e/em/eir pronouns) thought that a comic about reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. 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, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity — what it means and how to think about it — for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto (2020) by George M. Johnson
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 sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
This Book is Gay (2015) by Juno Dawson
Lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender, straight, curious: this book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) by Stephen Chbosky
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or "wallflowers" of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
Flamer (2020) by Mike Curato
In the summer between middle and high school, Aiden Navarro is away at camp where he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can not stop thinking about). He finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
The Bluest Eye (1970) by Toni Morrison
Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly disintegrates in the face of adversity and strife.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2012) by Jesse Andrews
Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics — until Greg's mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel. Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia — cue extreme adolescent awkwardness — but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives. And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.
Tricks (2009) by Ellen Hopkins
Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching ... for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect is all that can happen when those powerful little words "I love you" are said for all the wrong reasons.
Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story — a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"
Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human (2020) by Erika Moen
Is what I'm feeling normal? Is what my body is doing normal? Am I normal? How do I know what are the right choices to make? How do I know how to behave? How do I fix it when I make a mistake? Let's talk about it. Growing up is complicated.
How do you find the answers to all the questions you have about yourself, about your identity, and about your body? Let's Talk About It provides a comprehensive, thoughtful, well-researched graphic novel guide to everything you need to know.
Sold (2006) by Patricia McCormick
Lakshmi is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family's debt — then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.
Lakshmi's life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother's words, "Simply to endure is to triumph," and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision — will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?
Happy Banned Books Week from the Free Library!
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