The Bluest Eye
Why it was challengedSexual abuse content, sexually explicit
Afton, Minnesota · Open 24/7
Some books aren’t meant to disappear.
We track the books getting banned and challenged across the country. Then we get them back into people’s hands.
Read it.
Argue with it.
Pass it on.
100 titles · 100 reasons
The Top 100 banned & challenged books
The books most often pulled from shelves in America, along with the reasons cited for banning or challenging each one.
Looking for Alaska
Why it was challengedSexual content, offensive language
Nineteen Minutes
Why it was challengedSexual content, violence (school shooting)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Why it was challengedProfanity, sexual references, claimed anti-family
Of Mice and Men
Why it was challengedRacial slurs, profanity, violence
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Why it was challengedDepicts childhood sexual abuse
The Color Purple
Why it was challengedSexual content, violence, offensive language
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Why it was challengedSexual content, drug/alcohol use, LGBTQIA+ content
Gender Queer
Why it was challengedLGBTQIA+ content, sexually explicit illustrations
The Kite Runner
Why it was challengedSexual violence, offensive language
And Tango Makes Three
Why it was challengedLGBTQIA+ content (same-sex parenting)
The Handmaid's Tale
Why it was challengedSexual content, religious viewpoint, profanity
Challenge descriptions summarize reasons cited by challengers; they do not represent our judgment of the books.
Must Reads · Selected by Joe
The shelf we’d hand you first
If you only read a handful of banned books, start here. Thirty-six books that made us think, argue, understand and keep reading.
011984
George Orwell
Sexual content, political viewpoint
02The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
Racial slurs, racist language
03All Boys Aren't Blue
George M. Johnson
LGBTQIA+ content, sexual content
04And Tango Makes Three
Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell
LGBTQIA+ content (same-sex parenting)
05Animal Farm
George Orwell
Political viewpoint, claimed pro-communist or anti-government themes
06Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation
Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman
Sexual content, claimed inaccurate treatment of the HolocaustThis box always has one
Grab a banned book, or drop one off.
We don’t screen what goes in, and we won’t tell you what to think once it’s in your hands. Bring back something that made you uncomfortable, or something that made you feel seen. Sometimes those are the same book.
At any given moment, you’ll find at least one title that somebody, somewhere, decided you shouldn’t be allowed to read.
02
Joe + Scott
Two guys. One library. A lot of banned books.
Read Banned Books started as a Little Free Library at the end of our driveway and got a little out of hand. We started keeping a list. Then we started buying the books. Then we built a library to give them away. Free, no card required.
We’re two people who think a banned book is basically a book with a reading recommendation stapled to it. We track what’s being challenged, stock as many titles as we can, and point readers toward the ones worth discovering.
Keep the shelves stocked
We don’t ban books.
We buy them.
Banned books have a funny habit of walking off shelves fast, in the best possible way. Donations help us replace them and add books we’re missing.
Give a book
Drop off a new or used banned book directly at the library anytime.
Help buy books
We’re choosing the safest, simplest way to accept monetary donations. Venmo details are coming soon.