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Banned Books of 2019

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 377 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2019. Of the 566 books that were targeted, here are the most challenged, along with the reasons cited for censoring the books:

Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library

10 items

  • Reasons: challenged, banned, restricted, and hidden to avoid controversy; for LGBTQIA+ content and a transgender character; because schools and libraries should not “put books in a child’s hand that require discussion”; for sexual references; and…
    Book, 2015New York : Scholastic Press, 2015. — Fiction
  • Beyond Magenta

    Transgender Teens Speak Out

    Kuklin, Susan,
    Reasons: challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, for “its effect on any young people who would read it,” and for concerns that it was sexually explicit and biased
    Book, 2014Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2014. — 306.768 K96 2014
  • Reasons: Challenged and vandalized for LGBTQIA+ content and political viewpoints, for concerns that it is “designed to pollute the morals of its readers,” and for not including a content warning
    Picture Book, 2018San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2018] — Easy
  • Reasons: Challenged, banned, and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content; for discussing gender identity and sex education; and for concerns that the title and illustrations were “inappropriate”
    Book, 2015New York : Seven Stories Press ; Oakland : Triangle Square, [2015] — 613.9071 S587 2015
  • Reasons: Challenged and restricted for featuring a gay marriage and LGBTQIA+ content; for being “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children” with the potential to cause confusion, curiosity, and gender dysphoria; and for conflicting with a…
    Picture Book, 2018New York, NY : Little Bee Books, [2018] — Easy
  • Reasons: Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for a transgender character, and for confronting a topic that is “sensitive, controversial, and politically charged”
    Book, 2014New York, New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, [2014] — 306.768092 J54Zh 2014
  • Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity and for “vulgarity and sexual overtones”
    Book, 1986Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1986. — Fiction
  • Reasons: Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and for concerns that it goes against “family values/morals”
    Graphic Novel, 2012New York : Graphix, 2012. — 741.5 T271d 2012
  • Reasons: Banned and forbidden from discussion for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing actual curses and spells, and for characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals
    Book, 1998New York : Arthur A. Levine Books, 1998, c1997. — Fiction
  • Reason: Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content
    Picture Book, 2005New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2005. — Easy