List of most commonly challenged books in the United States

Judy Blume is the author featured most frequently on this list (5 times). Her young adult novels are typically about coming of age issues such as teenage sexuality.

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling was the most challenged work from 2000–2009. Its topics relating to things such as witchcraft have generated controversy.

The oldest works featured on the list were written by Mark Twain. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) is challenged consistently for its language and discussion of racism.

A challenged book is one that is sought to be removed or otherwise restricted from public access, typically from a library or a school curriculum. This is a list of the most commonly challenged books in the United States. It is primarily based on data gathered by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). The OIF gathers their data from media reports from reports from librarians and teachers.

According to the OIF, the top three reasons for challenging such materials were that they contained "sexually explicit" content, "offensive" language, or were "unsuited to any age group".

List

The list is sorted alphabetically by default. Included is each book's rank in the ALA's lists of top 100 challenged books by decade (if applicable).

Title	Author	Reason(s) for Challenge	Year(s) published	2000–2009 ALA rank	1990–1999 ALA rank
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian	Sherman Alexie	Content regarding alcohol, bullying, violence; sexual references; profanity and slurs	2007	—	—
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain	Coarse language, racial stereotypes and use of the word "nigger"	1884	14	5
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby	Dav Pilkey	Encouraging poor spelling	2002	47	—
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain	Coarse language; racial stereotypes	1876	—	83
Alice (series)	Phyllis Reynolds Naylor	Sexual content	1985–2012	2	14
All the King's Men	Robert Penn Warren	Depicting a "depressing view of life" and "immoral situations"	1946	—	—
Always Running	Luis J. Rodriguez	Gang violence, drug use and sexual references	1993	68	85
America	E.R. Frank	Sexual references; drug and alcohol use	2002	100	—
American Psycho	Bret Easton Ellis	Sexual references; violence toward women	1991	—	53
An American Tragedy	Theodore Dreiser	Sexual content; abortion; murder	1925	—	—
The Anarchist Cookbook	William Powell	Content related to the manufacturing of illicit narcotics and explosives	1971	—	59
Anastasia Krupnik (series)	Lois Lowry	References to beer, Playboy Magazine, and suicide	1979–1995	75	28
And Tango Makes Three	Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson	Content regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage	2005	4	—
Animal Farm	George Orwell	Political (Communist) commentary	1945	—	—
Annie on My Mind	Nancy Garden	LGBT content	1982	—	44
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging	Louise Rennison	Crude language, sexual content, LGBT content	1999	35	—
Arizona Kid	Ron Koertge	LGBT content	1988	—	75
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.	Judy Blume	Content dealing with menstrual cycles and feminine hygiene	1970	99	60
Arming America	Michael A. Bellesiles	Content dealing with firearms, later proven to have been fabricated	2000	38	—
As I Lay Dying	William Faulkner	Dealing with issues of death; abortion	1930	—	—
Asking About Sex and Growing Up	Joanna Cole		1988	—	57
Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories	Chris Crutcher	Content dealing with eating disorders, child abuse, racism, LGBT themes and AIDS	1991	44	63
The Awakening	Kate Chopin	Sexual content	1899	—	—
A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl	Tanya Lee Stone	Crude language, sexual content, mature themes	2006	—	—
Beloved	Toni Morrison	Themes regarding slavery; violence	1987	26	45
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out	Susan Kuklin	Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”).	2014
Black Boy	Richard Wright	Themes of Communism, racism and atheism	1946	81	—
Bless Me, Ultima	Rudolfo Anaya	Profanity, crude language and violence	1972	32	78
Blood and Chocolate	Annette Curtis Klause	Sexual content; supernatural themes	1997	57	—
Blubber	Judy Blume	Content dealing with the issue of bullying	1974	43	30
The Bluest Eye	Toni Morrison	Themes of racism, incest and child sexual abuse	1970	15	34
Bone (series)	Jeff Smith	References to smoking, drinking and gambling	1991–2004	—	—
The Boy Who Lost His Face	Louis Sachar	Themes of the occult, sexuality and bullying; profanity	1989	92	46
Boys and Sex	Wardell Pomeroy		1968	—	61
Brave New World	Aldous Huxley	Alleged anti-religion and anti-family themes; sexual content	1931	36	54
Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn Waugh	Themes of homosexuality, alcoholism, infidelity	1945	—	—
Bridge to Terabithia	Katherine Paterson		1977	28	8
Bumps in the Night	Harry Allard		1979	93	56
The Call of the Wild	Jack London		1903	—	—
Captain Underpants (series)	Dav Pilkey		1997–2015	13	—
Carrie	Stephen King		1974	—	81
Cat's Cradle	Kurt Vonnegut		1963	—	—
Catch-22	Joseph Heller		1961	—	—
The Catcher in the Rye	J. D. Salinger		1951	19	10
The Chocolate War	Robert Cormier		1974	3	4
Christine	Stephen King		1983	—	95
A Clockwork Orange	Anthony Burgess		1962	—	—
The Color Purple	Alice Walker		1982	17	17
The Color Trilogy (series)	Kim Dong Hwa		2009	—	—
Crank	Ellen Hopkins		2004	—	—
Crazy	Benjamin Lebert		2000	77	—
Crazy Lady!	Jane Leslie Conly		1993	45	62
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat	Alvin Schwartz		1974	—	47
Cujo	Stephen King		1983	—	49
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Mark Haddon	Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”).	2003
Curses, Hexes and Spells	Daniel Cohen		1974	—	71
Cut	Patricia McCormick		2000	86	—
Daddy's Roommate	Michael Willhoite		1991	—	2
Daughters of Eve	Lois Duncan		1979	51	—
A Day No Pigs Would Die	Robert Newton Peck		1972	80	16
The Dead Zone	Stephen King		1979	—	82
Deal with It!	Esther Drill		1999	82	—
Deenie	Judy Blume		1973	—	42
Detour for Emmy	Marilyn Reynolds		1993	83	—
Drama	Raina Telgemeier		2012	—	—
Draw Me a Star	Eric Carle		1992	61	—
The Drowning of Stephan Jones	Bette Greene		1991	—	96
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things	Carolyn Mackler		2003	34	—
Earth's Children (series)	Jean M. Auel		1980–2011	—	19
The Face on the Milk Carton	Caroline B. Cooney		1990	29	80
The Facts Speak For Themselves	Brock Cole		1997	54	—
Fade	Robert Cormier		1988	—	65
Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury		1953	69	—
Fallen Angels	Walter Dean Myers		1988	11	36
Family Secrets	Norma Klein		1985	—	76
A Farewell to Arms	Ernest Hemingway		1929	—	—
Fat Kid Rules the World	KL Going		2003	58	—
Fight Club	Chuck Palahniuk	Sexually explicit, violence, anarchist themes, smoking, drinking, etc... (this is true of all this authors work, but this the most read of his works.)	1996
Fifty Shades of Grey	E. L. James	Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”).	2011	—	—
The Fighting Ground	Avi		1984	42	—
Final Exit	Derek Humphry		1991	—	29
Flashcards of My Life	Charise Mericle Harper		2006	—	—
Flowers for Algernon	Daniel Keyes		1966	—	43
For Whom the Bell Tolls	Ernest Hemingway		1940	—	—
Forever...	Judy Blume		1975	16	7
Friday Night Lights	H. G. Bissinger		1990	89	—
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic	Alison Bechdel	Violence and other (“graphic images”).	2006
The Giver	Lois Lowry		1993	23	11
Girls and Sex	Wardell Pomeroy		1970	—	98
The Glass Castle	Jeannette Walls		2005	—	—
Go Ask Alice	Anonymous		1971	18	25
Go Tell It on the Mountain	James Baldwin		1953	—	—
The Goats	Brock Cole		1987	—	26
Gone with the Wind	Margaret Mitchell		1936	—	—
Goosebumps (series)	R. L. Stine		1992–1997	94	15
Gossip Girl (series)	Cecily von Ziegesar		2002–2011	22	—
The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck		1939	—	—
The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald		1925	—	—
The Great Gilly Hopkins	Katherine Paterson		1978	52	20
Grendel	John Gardner		1971	96	—
Guess What?	Mem Fox		1990	—	66
Habibi	Craig Thompson	Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.	2011
Halloween ABC	Eve Merriam		1987	—	31
The Handmaid's Tale	Margaret Atwood		1985	88	37
Harris and Me	Gary Paulsen		1993	70	—
Harry Potter (series)	J. K. Rowling		1997–2007	1	48
Heather Has Two Mommies	Lesléa Newman		1989	—	9
His Dark Materials (series)	Philip Pullman		1995–2000	8	—
The House of the Spirits	Isabel Allende		1982	97	73
The Hunger Games	Suzanne Collins		2008–2010	—	—
I Am Jazz	Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings	Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.	2014
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	Maya Angelou		1969	6	3
I Saw Esau	Iona Opie, Peter Opie		2000	98	—
In Cold Blood	Truman Capote		1966	—	—
In the Night Kitchen	Maurice Sendak		1970	24	21
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison		1952	—	—
It's Perfectly Normal	Robie Harris		1994	12	13
It's So Amazing	Robie Harris		1999	37	—
Jack	A. M. Homes		1990	—	74
James and the Giant Peach	Roald Dahl		1961	—	50
The Joy of Gay Sex	Charles Silverstein, Edmund White		1977	78	—
Julie of the Wolves	Jean Craighead George		1972	91	32
Jump Ship to Freedom	James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier		1981	—	100
Jumper	Steven Gould		1992	—	94
The Jungle	Upton Sinclair		1906	—	—
Junie B. Jones (series)	Barbara Park		1992–2011	71	—
Kaffir Boy	Mark Mathabane		1986	39	33
Killing Mr. Griffin	Lois Duncan		1978	25	64
King & King	Linda De Haan, Stern Nijland		2002	20	—
The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini		2003	50	—
Lady Chatterley's Lover	D. H. Lawrence		1928	—	—
Life is Funny	E.R. Frank		2000	40	—
A Light in the Attic	Shel Silverstein		1981	—	51
Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov		1955	—	—
Looking for Alaska	John Green	Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.	2005	—	—
Lord of the Flies	William Golding		1954	—	68
The Lord of the Rings	J. R. R. Tolkien		1954	—	—
The Lovely Bones	Alice Sebold		2002	74	—
Lush	Natasha Friend		2006	—	—
Mein Kampf"	Adolf Hitler		1925	—
Mick Harte Was Here	Barbara Park		1996	64	—
Mummy Laid an Egg	Babette Cole		1994	—	77
My Brother Sam Is Dead	James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier		1974	27	12
My Mom's Having a Baby!	Dori Hillestad Butler		2005	—	—
My Sister's Keeper	Jodi Picoult		2004	—	—
The Naked and the Dead	Norman Mailer		1948	—	—
Naked Lunch	William S. Burroughs		1959	—	—
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan	Jeanette Winter	Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence.	2009
Native Son	Richard Wright		1940	—	69
The New Joy of Gay Sex	Charles Silverstein, Edmund White, Felice Picano		1993	—	24
Nickel and Dimed	Barbara Ehrenreich		2001	—	—
Nineteen Eighty-Four	George Orwell		1949	—	—
Of Mice and Men	John Steinbeck		1937	5	6
Olive's Ocean	Kevin Henkes		2003	59	—
On My Honor	Marion Dane Bauer		1986	—	72
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Ken Kesey		1962	49	—
Ordinary People	Judith Guest		1976	—	52
The Outsiders	S. E. Hinton		1967	—	38
The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Stephen Chbosky		1999	10	—
Persepolis (series)	Marjane Satrapi		2000–2003	—	—
The Pigman	Paul Zindel		1968	—	39
The Pillars of the Earth	Ken Follett		1989	—	91
A Prayer for Owen Meany	John Irving		1989	76	—
Private Parts	Howard Stern		1993	—	86
Rabbit, Run	John Updike		1960	—	—
Rainbow Boys	Alex Sánchez		2001	48	—
Revolutionary Voices	Amy Sonnie		2000	—	—
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry	Mildred D. Taylor		1976	66	—
Running Loose	Chris Crutcher		1983	—	92
Saga (series)	Brian K. Vaughan		2012–present	—	—
The Satanic Verses	Salman Rushdie		1988	—	—
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (series)	Alvin Schwartz		1981–1991	7	1
A Separate Peace	John Knowles		1959	—	—
Sex	Madonna		1992	—	18
Sex Education	Jenny Davis		1995	—	93
Shade's Children	Garth Nix		1997	95	—
Slaughterhouse-Five	Kurt Vonnegut		1969	46	67
The Sleeping Beauty Quartet (series)	Anne Rice		1983–2015	—	55
Snow Falling on Cedars	David Guterson		1994	33	—
So Far from the Bamboo Grove	Yoko Kawashima Watkins		1986	84	—
Song of Solomon	Toni Morrison		1977	72	84
Sophie's Choice	William Styron		1979	—	—
Sons and Lovers	D. H. Lawrence		1913	—	—
Speak	Laurie Halse Anderson		1999	60	—
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes	Chris Crutcher		1993	85	—
A Stolen Life	Jaycee Dugard		2011	—	—
The Story of Little Black Sambo	Helen Bannerman		1899	—	90
The Stupids (series)	Harry Allard, James Marshall		1974–1989	62	27
Summer of My German Soldier	Bette Greene		1973	55	88
The Sun Also Rises	Ernest Hemingway		1926	—	—
Taming the Star Runner	S. E. Hinton		1988	—	—
The Terrorist	Caroline B. Cooney		1997	63	—
That Was Then, This Is Now	S. E. Hinton		1971	—	97
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston		1937	—	—
The Things They Carried	Tim O'Brien		1990	65	—
Thirteen Reasons Why	Jay Asher		2007	—	—
Tiger Eyes	Judy Blume		1981	87	89
A Time to Kill	John Grisham		1989	67	—
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee		1960	21	40
Tropic of Cancer	Henry Miller		1934	—	—
ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series)	Lauren Myracle		2004–2007	9	—
Twilight (series)	Stephenie Meyer		2005–2008	—	—
Two Boys Kissing	David Levithan	Homosexuality and other (“condones public displays of affection”).	2013
Ulysses	James Joyce		1922	—	—
Uncle Bobby's Wedding	Sarah S. Brannen		2008	—	—
The Upstairs Room	Johanna Reiss		1972	79	—
We All Fall Down	Robert Cormier		1991	30	41
Whale Talk	Chris Crutcher		2001	41	—
What My Mother Doesn't Know	Sonya Sones		2001	31	—
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys	Lynda Madaras		1987/2007	—	58
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls	Lynda Madaras		1987/2007	73	35
When Dad Killed Mom	Julius Lester		2001	56	—
Where Did I Come From?	Peter Mayle		1973	—	79
Where's Waldo?	Martin Handford		1987	—	87
The Wish Giver	Bill Brittain		1983	—	99
The Witches	Roald Dahl		1983	—	22
Women in Love	D. H. Lawrence		1920	—	—
Women on Top	Nancy Friday		1991	—	70
A Wrinkle in Time	Madeleine L'Engle		1963	90	23
You Hear Me?	Betsy Franco		2000	53	—

Note: The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported.

See also

• List of books banned by governments

External links

• Banned & Challenged Books at the American Library Association website