Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For more than 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, writers, journalists, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. The theme for this is "Let Freedom Read."
The annual library guide to Banned Books Week can be found at library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek
Reading advocate, writer, and television and film star LeVar Burton will lead this year’s Banned Books Week as the honorary chair. Burton is the first actor to serve as honorary chair of Banned Books Week. “Books bring us together. They teach us about the world and each other. The ability to read and access books is a fundamental right and a necessity for life-long success,” says Burton. “But books are under attack. They’re being removed from libraries and schools. Shelves have been emptied because of a small number of people and their misguided efforts toward censorship. Public advocacy campaigns like Banned Books Week are essential to helping people understand the scope of book censorship and what they can do to fight it. I’m honored to lead Banned Books Week 2023.”
Find the list of the top challenged books for 2022 on the Forbidden: List of Banned Books page of the guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek/forbidden
The list has 13 books because three books tied for 10th place.
- Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images - All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit - The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit - Flamer by Mike Curato
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit - Looking for Alaska by John Green
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, rape, drugs, profanity - Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references and use of a derogatory term - Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit - This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content. - Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women - A Court of Mist and Furry by Sarah J. Maas
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit - Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Drugs, claimed to be sexually explicit
Find more information at the guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/bannedbooksweek
