Various Scriptures have been banned (and sometimes Burned ) at several points in history. The Bible , Talmud and the Qur'an have all been subjected to Censorship and have been banned in various cities and countries. In Medieval Europe the Catholic Church created a program that lasted until 1948 to deal with dissenting printed opinion; it was called the '' Index Librorum Prohibitorum ''. Over the years many books based on the scriptures have also been banned, such as Leo Tolstoy 's '' The Kingdom Of God Is Within You '', which was banned in Russia for being Anti-establishment .
Books that deal with criminal matter have also been subjected to Censorship . Small-press titles that have become infamous by being banned include '' The Anarchist Cookbook ,'' '' E For Ecstasy ,'' and '' Hit Man .''
In the four-volume series ''Banned Books'' published by in Polite conversation.
Notably, children's books that deal with death or other Teenage Angst or various crimes, often find themselves banned, perhaps because of parental worries about Teenage Suicide or Copycat crimes. Many publications targeted are on the premise that children would be corrupted by reading them. This fear lead to the creation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954.
is used to denote books that appear on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 list of the American Library Association ( found here ) in order to save effort in documenting the bannings. They also list these books , which are noted as ALA_Radcliffe.
: Subtitle (usually added if it helps the reader to recognize why book was banned)
provided if no other encyclopedic information is yet available.
The U.S. Customs office has a history of banning books, more so in the early part of the 20th century
See the Karolides volumes below for extensive lists of banned books.
Almost any "Young adult" or "Children's book" author runs the risk of being banned if "adult" themes or themes that are not strictly optimistic and mainstream are included in the storyline.
- '' Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn '' by Mark Twain was banned after publication in 1885 by the Concord Public Library on grounds of it being "more suited to the slums than to intelligent, respectable people." More recently its portrayal of race (including the use of the word Nigger ) has seen many efforts to remove it from school reading lists in the USA . ALA_2000
- '' The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer '' by Mark Twain was banned from the children's section of the Brooklyn, New York public library in 1876, the Denver, Colorado public library in the same year, and was banned by some libraries in the USA due to objections to the "questionable character" of the main character and Racism . It was banned by the Brazil ian Government in 1937 as part of a crack down on Communist and subversive works. ALA_2000
- '' The Age Of Reason '' by Thomas Paine was banned in the UK for blasphemy due to its arguments in favour of Deism and against Christianity . Booksellers and publishers were prosecuted for disseminating it.
- '' Alice's Adventures In Wonderland '' by Lewis Carroll was banned in China in 1931 because the animals used the human language.
- The Alice Series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor have been banned or challenged in various American school libraries due to their sexually explicit content. ALA_2000
- '' All Quiet On The Western Front '' by Erich Maria Remarque was banned in Nazi Germany and was among the titles set for public burning in 1933.
- '' Always Running '' by Luis Rodriguez was banned in school districts including Rockford, Illinois (where it was the first book banned) due to its graphic but realistic depiction of life in a street gang. ALA_2000
- '' American Psycho '' by Bret Easton Ellis was among the American Library Association 's list of the most banned books due to its descriptions of violence against women. Also the American National Organization Of Women urged members to boycott the book and attempts were made to ban it in Canada due to suspected Copycat crimes. ALA_2000
- '' An American Tragedy '' by Theodore Dreiser was banned in places such as Boston as it "tended to corrupt the morals of youth."
- '''' by Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show was banned by a Mississippi library due to it containing images of Supreme Court Justice s' faces on naked bodies. The ban was overturned after only a day due to public outcry. This ban also helped to propel the books sales.
- '' The Anarchist Cookbook '' by William Powell which contains instructions for manufacturing explosives and telephone hacking devices was among the ALA's list of the 100 most banned books. ALA_2000
- ''The Anastasia Krupnik series'' by Lois Lowry is frequently the subject of banning attempts from school libraries who are concerned that the content is not suitable for children. ALA_2000
- '' Andersonville '' by MacKinlay Kantor was banned due to obscenity.
- '' Animal Farm '' by George Orwell was banned in the USSR for anti- Communist themes, in some Islam ic nations for "religious reasons". It was also banned in the USA for communist material in its introduction, although the book itself was a vicious satire on Stalinism .
- '''' by Anne Frank has been banned or challenged for various reasons including being "a real downer."
- '' Annie On My Mind '' by Nancy Garden was banned and copies burned due to its depiction of two young girls falling in love. ALA_2000
- '' Another Country '' by James Baldwin was banned from some schools who considered it pornographic.
- '' Appointment In Samarra '' by John O'Hara was attacked by the Watch And Ward Society due to its vulgarity and comments on ethnic groups.
- '' The Art Of Love '' by Ovid was burned in Florence in 1497. The author was also banished from Rome by Augustus due to the book's subversion of moral reforms.
- '' The Arabian Nights '' has been frequently banned in Arab countries, the most recent being in Egypt in 1989.
- '' Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret '' by Judy Blume was banned in some schools due to its characters' discussion of menstruation and breast development and its perceived anti- Christian themes. Judy Blume is also known as "The most banned author in the U.S.A". ALA_2000
- '' Areopagitica '' by John Milton , a polemic in defence of Free Speech was published without licence in England and condemned by Parliament.
- '' Arizona Kid '' by Ron Koertge featured adult themes and homosexual characters. It was listed among the hundred most banned books by the ALA. ALA_2000
- '' Asking About Sex And Growing Up '' by Joanna Cole was banned as it promoted values that some parents disapproved of and considered unsuitable for their children. ALA_2000
- '' Athletic Shorts '' by Chris Crutcher was banned from a school in Grand Rapids, Michigan (and the teacher who taught it dismissed) for using racist language, although the message of the book itself is resolutely anti-racist. ALA_2000
- '' The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin '' by Benjamin Franklin is one of the ALA's hundred most banned books, for "social reasons."
- '' Babbitt '' by Sinclair Lewis
- '' The Banditti Of The Plains '' by A. S. Mercer ST: Or the Cattlemen's Invasion of Wyoming in 1892 (The Crowning Infamy of the Ages). It had many copies destroyed on publication due to its eyewitness accounts of illegal activities and the actions of official forces.
- '' The Bell Jar '' by Sylvia Plath has been challenged for sexual material and condoning an obscene point of view.
- '' Beloved '' by Toni Morrison has been challenged for its language. ALA_2000
- '' Black Beauty '' by Anna Sewell was banned in South Africa due to the use of the word 'black' in the title.
- '' Black Boy '' by Richard Wright was banned in American schools in the seventies for "obscenity" and "instigating hatred between the races."
- '' Black Like Me '' by John Howard Griffin was banned for its portrayal of racial tension.
- '' Bless Me, Ultima '' by Rudolfo A. Anaya was banned for profanity and Pagan content. ALA_2000
- '' Blood And Chocolate '' by Annette Curtis Klause is frequently challenged for being sexually explicit
- '' The Bloudy Tenent Of Persecution '' by Roger Williams was banned on religious grounds
- '' Blubber '' by Judy Blume (Banned for language. Also, the antagonist is never punished.) ALA_2000
- '' The Bluest Eye '' by Toni Morrison was banned due to its explicit sexual content. ALA_2000
- '' The Boy Who Lost His Face '' by Louis Sachar was challenged in Nashville due to a scene in which a hammer is inserted into a character's rectum. ALA_2000
- '' Boys And Sex '' by Wardell Pomeroy ALA_2000
- '' Boys Of Swithins Hall '' by Chris Kent teen-aged homoerotica
- '' Brave New World '' by Aldous Huxley was banned in Ireland in 1932 for "centering around negative activity". It's also banned for language. Some saw this book as anti-family and anti-Christian. ALA_2000
- '' Bridge To Terabithia '' by Katherine Paterson ALA_2000
- '' Bumps In The Night '' by Harry Allard ISBN 0440412862 ALA_2000
- '' Burger's Daughter '' by Nadine Gordimer ISBN 0140055932 banned after the Soweto uprising.
- '' Call Of The Wild '' by Jack London was banned in Italy in 1929 and also in Yugoslavia in 1929.
- '' Can Such Things Be? '' by Ambrose Bierce In 1918, the US War Department told the American Library Association to remove a number of pacifist and "disturbing" books, including Ambrose Bierce's Can Such Things Be? from camp libraries.
- '' Candide '' by Voltaire 1930, U.S. Customs seized Harvard-bound copies of Candide.
- '' The Canterbury Tales '' by Geoffrey Chaucer (Banned for risque subject matter.)
- '' Carrie '' by Stephen King ALA_2000
- '' The Case For India '' by Will Durant See Karolides "political" list.
- '' Catch-22 '' by Joseph Heller
- '' The Catcher In The Rye '' by J.D. Salinger (Banned for profanity, sexual references, and that it "undermines morality." Also called blasphemous by some.) ALA_2000
- '' Charlie And The Chocolate Factory '' by Roald Dahl was banned from a reference collection at the Boulder, Colorado public library for "espousing a poor philosophy of life."
- '' The Children Of Sanchez '' by Oscar Lewis (Formerly banned in Mexico for political reasons.)
- '' Children Of The Alley by Naguib Mahfouz blasphemy
- '' The Chocolate War '' by Robert Cormier (Banned for language.) ALA_2000
- ''The Christian Commonwealth'' by John Eliot (missionary) was banned and ordered destroyed by the General Court of Massachusetts, May 22, 1661.
- '' by Leonardo Boff
- '' Civil Disobedience (Thoreau) '' by Henry David Thoreau target of successful banning efforts by Joseph McCarthy
- '' Clan Of The Cave Bear '' by Jean Auel was banned from the Cascade Middle School library at Eugene, Oregon in 1992 for "hardcore graphic sexual content".
- '' A Clockwork Orange '' by Anthony Burgess (Banned from schools for language.)
- '' The Color Purple '' by Alice Walker ALA_2000
- '' The Communist Manifesto '' by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Banned for political reasons)
- '' Confessions '' by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Formerly banned in the USA on grounds of obscenity and criticisms of Christianity, especially Protestantism.)
- '' Crazy Lady '' by Jane Conly ISBN 0064405710 ALA_2000
- '' Cross Your Fingers, Spit In Your Hat '' by Alvin Schwartz ALA_2000 ST: Superstitions and Other Beliefs
- '' Cujo '' by Stephen King (Banned for subject matter and language.) ALA_2000
- '' Cunt '' by Stewart Home (Language)
- '' Curses, Hexes And Spells '' by Daniel Cohen ALA_2000
- '' The Da Vinci Code '' by Dan Brown (Banned in Lebanon after Catholic leaders deemed it offensive to Christianity. Other reasons: historical inaccuracies. But now sold, in many languages, including Arabic.)
- '' Daddy’s Roommate '' by Michael Willhoite ISBN 1555831184 ALA_2000
- '' The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys '' by Chris Fuhrman
- '' A Day No Pigs Would Die '' by Robert Newton Peck ALA_2000
- '' The Dead Zone '' by Stephen King ALA_2000 (Political reasons)
- '' Death In Venice '' by Thomas Mann (Banned due to its homoerotic theme.)
- '' The Decameron '' by Boccaccio (Obscenity.)
- '' Deenie '' by Judy Blume ALA_2000
- '' Delta Of Venus '' by Anaïs Nin (Sexual themes)
- '' Descent Interval '' by Frank Snepp ST: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the Cia's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam
- '' Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems '' by Galileo Galilei was banned by Pope Urban VIII in 1633 , as were all other works by Galileo.
- '' Did Six Million Really Die? '' by Ernst Zündel (Banned for Anti-Semetism and Holocaust Denial )
- '' Doctor Zhivago '' by Boris Pasternak (Banned in the USSR for criticisms of the abuses of power by the Bolsheviks.)
- '' Down These Mean Streets '' by Piri Thomas
- '' The Drowning Of Stephen Jones '' by Bette Greene ISBN 0553074377 ALA_2000 Teenaged story, homosexual man is murdered
- '' Dubliners '' by James Joyce (Banned in Ireland for language.)
- '' Earth's Children '' (series) by Jean M. Auel (Banned for sexual stitches, which were described vividly.) ALA_2000
- '' Eden, Eden, Eden '' by Pierre Guyotat (banned in France until 1981 for obscenity and graphic violence)
- '' E For Ecstasy '' by Nicholas Saunders
- '' Elmer Gantry '' by Sinclair Lewis , banned in Boston and elsewhere for frank depictions of Religion and Sex
- '' Encyclopédie '', edited by Jean Le Rond D'Alembert and Denis Diderot
- '' Eragon '' by Christopher Paolini
- '' Essays '' by Michel De Montaigne
- '' The Face On The Milk Carton '' by Caroline Cooney ALA_2000 (horror writing?)
- '' Fade '' by Robert Cormier ALA_2000
- '' Fahrenheit 451 '' by Ray Bradbury (Copies used in school literature classes were edited to omit the words "hell," "damn," and "abortion," which is ironic because the central theme is censorship.)
- '' Fallen Angels '' by Walter Dean Myers ALA_2000
- '' The Family '' by Ed Sanders (banned due to a libel suit by the Process Church Of The Final Judgment due to its linking that church with the Manson Family murders)
- '' Family Limitation '' (a pamphlet) by Margaret Sanger the Comstock Law of 1873 which outlawed as obscene the dissemination of contraceptive information and devices.
- '' Family Secrets '' by Norma Klein ISBN 0449701956 ALA_2000
- '' Fanny Hill '' by John Cleland (Banned for obscenity in Massachusetts until 1966.)
- '' The Fat Man (book) '' by Maurice Gee (1933) ISBN 0689811829 A children's book that was just 'too scary for children'; based in New Zealand during the depression.
- '' Final Exit '' by Derek Humphry ISBN 0385336535 Documents suicide techniques ALA_2000
- '' Flowers For Algernon '' by Daniel Keyes ALA_2000 Profanity, explicit and "distasteful" love scenes," references to "sex and drinking," See {Link without Title} for some specific bans.
- '' Flowers In The Attic '' by Virginia C. Andrews teenaged incest
- '' Forever '' by Judy Blume ALA_2000
- '' Forever Amber '' by Kathleen Winsor - 17th century woman sleeps her way to the top
- '' Frankenstein '' by Mary Shelley
- '' Franny And Zooey '' by J.D. Salinger ALA_Radcliffe (Note: bannings for this book might be for the author rather than the content)
- '' The Fuck-Up '' by Arthur Nersesian
- '' G.B. Jones (book) '' edited by Steve LaFreniere lesbian soft-core porn drawings. Copies of the book were seized at the Canadian border and it was officially pronounced "Banned In Canada".
- '' Girls And Sex '' by Wardell Pomeroy ALA_2000
- '' The Giver '' by Lois Lowry (Banned for violent and sexual themes. Some also felt that Euthanasia was not an appropriate subject for children.) ALA_2000
- '' Glamorama '' by Bret Easton Ellis Fiction. Extensive depictions of violence.
- '' The Glass Teat '' by Harlan Ellison Condemnation of the state of television. Included essays critical of the president and vice-president. The publisher, Ace Pub. Corp. consequently recalled the book (in 1960's), but re-released years later.
- '' Go Ask Alice '' by Beatrice Sparks writing as 'Anonymous'; ALA_2000 extended account of drug abuse.
- '' The Goats (book) '' by Brock Cole ISBN 0374425752 ALA_2000 (title for scapegoats) Teenaged social outcasts standed on lake island, then run away from camp personel.
- '' Gone With The Wind '' by Margaret Mitchell was banned from English classrooms in the Anaheim, California Union High School District in 1978 for using the word " Nigger ".
- '' The Grapes Of Wrath '' by John Steinbeck (Banned for language and depictions of migrant life. Also cited as socialist propaganda.) Several months after the book's publication, a St. Louis, MO library ordered 3 copies to be burned for the vulgar words used by its characters. It was also banned in Kansas City and in Oklahoma.
- '' Goosebumps '' (series) by R.L. Stine ALA_2000
- '' The Great Gilly Hopkins '' by Katherine Paterson ALA_2000 banned in Albemarle County, Virginia, because it used "curse words and God’s name in vain".
- '' The Group (book) '' by Mary McCarthy a sexually outspoken depiction of eight Vassar graduates in the 1930s.
- '' Gruppa Finlandija '' by Pentti Syrjä (Finland, 1986) (banning info not yet found)
- '' Guess What? '' by Mem Fox ALA_2000 chilren's picture book with a few references to occult (witchcraft)
- '' The Guide Of The Perplexed '' by Moses Maimonides a philosophical work harmonising and differentiating Aristotelian philosophy and Jewish theology, circa 1200 A.D.
- '' The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956'' by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (banned in the USSR for depicting human rights abuses by the Soviet government, particularly in its justice system and prisons.)
- '' Halloween ABC '' by Eve Merriam ISBN 068980198X ALA_2000 ABC picture book (targeting 5-year-olds) that makes "I" for icicle-murder
- '' Hamlet '' by William Shakespeare (Banned for references to the Occult .)
- '' The Handmaid's Tale '' by Margaret Atwood ISBN 038549081X ALA_2000
- '' Harmful To Minors '' by Judith Levine (adolescent sexuality and politics)
- ''The Harry Potter '' series by J.K. Rowling (Banned for references to the Occult , especially in conservative Catholic circles through the efforts of Michael D. O'Brien and LifeSite .) ALA_2000
- '' The Headless Cupid '' by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (child witchcraft) ALA_2000
- '' Heather Has Two Mommies '' by Lesléa Newman ALA_2000 (lesbianism)
- '''' by Nawal El Saadawi (challenges women's traditional roles in Abrahamic religions)
- Rex Feral''' (describes assassination techniques)
- '' The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century '' by Arthur R. Butz ST: The Case Against The Presumed Extermination Of European Jewry. ISBN 0-9679856-9-2 (Holocaust revisionism)
- '''' by Mikhail Rusinov (Banned for political reasons by Amazon.com on-line at http://www.russiannudistnaturist.com.) ISBN 0966460901
- '' Hop On Pop '' Banned in several countries for graphic sexual content, namely incest
- '' The House Of Spirits '' by Isabel Allende ALA_2000 (sexual themes and politics)
- '' The House Of Bernarda Alba '' by Federico Garcia Lorca (Banned for political reasons.)
- '' Howl '' by Allen Ginsberg (Banned for obscenity and depictions of drug use)
- '' How To Eat Fried Worms '' by Thomas Rockwell ISBN 0440445450 ALA_2000 (Generic gross-out.)
- '' I Am The Cheese '' by Robert Cormier (Banned because some have felt that the book's complicated structure and pessimistic ending are inappropriate for young people)
- '' I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings '' by Maya Angelou (Banned for scenes of incest, profanity, and descriptive pornographic language.) ALA_2000
- '' In The Night Kitchen '' by Maurice Sendak (Banned for single illustration of child nudity.) ALA_2000
- '' In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse '' by Peter Matthiessen (Banned in the USA for 8 years, critical of FBI investigation of execution of two of its agents by a Native American.)
- '' Infallible? An Inquiry '' by Hans Küng rejects the doctrine of papal infallibility
- '' The Investigator '' by Reuben Ship Canadian radio play that lampooned HUAC. Uniformly shunned by USA radio stations throughout the 1950's.
- '' The Iron Dream '' by Norman Spinrad (political satire involving Hitler)
- '' It's Perfectly Normal '' by Robie Harris ISBN 1564021599 ALA_2000
- '' Jack '' by A.M. Homes ALA_2000
- '' James And The Giant Peach '' by Roald Dahl ALA_2000 Cruel adults conveniently killed off.
- '' Jerusalem Delivered '' by Torquato Tasso 15th century story about Crusades
- '' Jenny Lives With Eric And Martin '' by Susanne Bösche
- '' Johnny Got His Gun '' by Dalton Trumbo (repressed during World War II due to its pacifist content)
- '' The Joy Of Sex '' by Alex Comfort
- '' Jude The Obscure '' by Thomas Hardy Child murder/suicide.
- '' Juhannus Dances '' by Hannu Salama (Banned for blasphemy)
- '' Julie Of The Wolves '' by Jean Craighead George ALA_2000
- '' Juliette '' by the Marquis De Sade (Banned for blasphemy, graphic depictions of sex and violence, and political reasons)
- '' July's People '' by Nadine Gordimer (Banned in its setting, South Africa)
- '' Jump Ship To Freedom '' by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier ISBN 0440443237 ALA_2000 (uses the word "nigger"?)
- '' The Jungle '' by Upton Sinclair (banned in Chicago and Boston in the early 20th century for political reasons)
- '' Kaffir Boy '' by Mark Mathabane ALA_2000
- '' Kama Sutra ''
- '' Kiki's Memoirs '' by Alice Prin ( Kiki De Montparnasse )
- '' Killing Mr. Griffin '' by Lois Duncan ALA_2000
- '' by John Minnery
- '' The Kingdom Of God Is Within You '' by Leo Tolstoy (Banned in Russia for being anti-establishment.)
- '' King & King '' by Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland (Banned or severely in some United States libaries for its supposedly risqué content, it deals with homosexual themese and affection in a childrens book for a age 4-8 audiance)
- '' King Lear '' by William Shakespeare
- '''' by John W. Caughey , John Hope Franklin and Ernest R. May (listed in Karolides "Political" volume)
- '' Lady Chatterley's Lover '' by D.H. Lawrence Banned in the UK because of explicit sexual content until a celebrated obscenity trial in 1963
- '' Lajja '' by Taslima Nasrin (Banned in Bangladesh because its contents might hurt the existing social system and religious sentiments of the people.) {Link without Title}
- '' Last Exit To Brooklyn '' by Hubert Selby Jr. (Banned for graphic sexual situations including homosexuality and rape)
- '' The Last Temptation Of Christ '' by Nikos Kazantzakis (Banned for religious reasons)
- '' Lazarillo De Tormes '' (Banned for religious reasons by the Spanish Inquistion in the 16th century)
- '' Le Feu Sous La Soutane '', by Benjamin Sehene (Banned in Rwanda for being divisionist.)
- '' Leaves Of Grass '' by Walt Whitman (Banned for religious reasons and homoerotic themes.)
- '' Less Than Zero '' by Bret Easton Ellis (Banned for graphic depictions of sex and drugs.)
- '' A Light In The Attic '' by Shel Silverstein (Parents believed a scene in the book encouraged children to break dishes in order to avoid washing them) ALA_2000
- '' Little Black Sambo '' by Helen Bannerman Racial stereotypes. ALA_2000
- '' Lolita '' by Vladimir Nabokov (Banned for sexual themes)
- '' Long Hard Road Out Of Hell '' by Marilyn Manson (sex, drugs, and religion)
- '' The Lorax '' by Dr. Seuss (Banned by a school district in California for espousing environmentalism and negatively depicting the lumber industry.)
- '' Lord Of The Flies '' by William Golding ALA_2000 (child murder)
- '' Lysistrata '' by Aristophanes (Banned in the United States for indecency. Banned in parts of Europe for anti-war themes.)
- '' Macbeth '' by William Shakespeare
- '' Madame Bovary '' by Gustav Flaubert (formerly banned in France for political reasons)
- '' Magnum Crimen '' by Viktor Novak See Jasenovac Concentration Camp
- '' Main Street '' by Sinclair Lewis in a town in Minnesota near where it took place
- '' A Man Of The People '' by Chinua Achebe (religious groups have tried to ban the book in Kenyan schools)
- '' Manchild In The Promised Land by Claude Brown ISBN 0684864185 gritty autobio of growing up in Harlem, NYC
- '' Marks Of Identity '' by Juan Goytisolo Spanish, openly gay author
- '' The Making Of A Godol '' by Nathan Kamenetsky (Mesorah, 2003) (scope of ban is among ultra-Orthodox rabbis)
- '' Maurice '' by E.M. Forster (homoerotic themes)
- '' Mein Kampf '' by Adolf Hitler
- '' Memoirs Of Hecate County '' by Edmund Wilson Because of the frankly sexual nature of the story "The Princess with the Golden Hair," the book was suppressed on obscenity charges until 1959, at which time Wilson published a revised edition.
- '' Mephisto '' by Klaus Mann
- '' The Merchant Of Venice '' by William Shakespeare (anti-Semitism)
- '' Les Meditations Metaphysiques '' by Rene Descartes
- '' Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood '' by Taslima Nasrin (Banned in Bangladesh because "its contents might hurt the existing social system and religious sentiments of the people.") {Link without Title}
- '' Moll Flanders '' by Daniel Defoe (sexual situations)
- '' The Monk '' by Matthew Lewis (sexual situations, blasphemy)
- '' Mommy Laid An Egg '' by Babette Cole ISBN 0811813193 ALA_2000
- '' Mountain Wreath '' by Petar II Petrović Njegoš
- '' My Brother Sam Is Dead '' by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier ISBN 059042792X ALA_2000
- '' My Friend Flicka '' by Mary O'Hara banned because it contained the word "bitch" referring to a female dog?
- '' My Secret Life '' by 'Walter'
- '' The Myth Of Heterosexual AIDS '' by Michael Fumento
- '' Naked Lunch '' by William S. Burroughs (drug use, homosexuality)
- '' Native Son '' by Richard Wright ALA_2000 (violence and rape)
- '' The New Joy Of Gay Sex '' by Charles Silverstein ISBN 0060012730 ALA_2000
- '' The Nigger Of The Narcissus '' by Joseph Conrad
- '' Nineteen Eighty-Four '' by George Orwell
- '' Ninety-Five Theses '' by Martin Luther (Banned for Heresy against the Catholic Church)
- '' Of Mice And Men '' by John Steinbeck ALA_2000
- '' Oil! '' by Upton Sinclair
- '' Oliver Twist '' by Charles Dickens
- '' On My Honor '' by Marion Dane Bauer ISBN 0440466334 ALA_2000 (child guilt over accidental child death)
- '' On The Infinite Universe And Worlds '' by Giordano Bruno
- '' One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest '' by Ken Kesey
- '' One Of The Guys '' by Robert Clark Young
- '' The 120 Days Of Sodom '' by Marquis De Sade (formerly banned in many countries, including France, Great Britain and the USA, for its depictions of graphic sex and violence)
- '' Open Veins Of Latin America '' by Eduardo Galeano an indictment of the exploitation of Latin America by foreign powers
- '' Ordinary People '' by Judith Guest (teenaged suicide) ALA_2000
- '' Origin Of Species '' by Charles Darwin (Banned for illustrating the concept of evolution.)
- '' The Other Glass Teat '' by Harlan Ellison See The Glass Teat (critical of the state television)
- '' Our Friend The King '' by Gilles Perrault (This biography of Hassan II Of Morocco was banned in Morocco for its less than flattering portrait of the king.)
- '' The Outsiders '' by S.E. Hinton (Challenged in South Milwaukee because "drug and alcohol abuse was common" in the novels and "virtually all the characters were from broken homes.") ALA_2000
- '' Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded '' by Samuel Richardson
- '' The Perks Of Being A Wallflower '' by Stephen Chbosky
- '' Pernkopf's Anatomy '' by Eduard Pernkopf ISBN 0683068547 (nudity; presents results of medical research, including vivisections, performed on nonconsenting prisoners)
- '' Peter Pan '' Racism, and on charges of promoting Homosexuality, drug use and miscreantism.
- '' Peyton Place '' by Grace Metalious (sexual themes)
- '' Philosophy In The Bedroom '' by the Marquis De Sade explicit sexuality, violence, blasphemy
- '' The Pigman '' by Paul Zindel ALA_2000
- '' The Pillars Of The Earth '' by Ken Follett ALA_2000 explicit sexuality, including a rape scene.
- '' Portnoy's Complaint '' by Philip Roth themes of sexual desire and sexual frustration
- '' The Poor Man's James Bond
- '' The Prince '' by Niccolo Machiavelli (Banned for political reasons.)
- '' Private Parts '' by Howard Stern ALA_2000
- '' The Provincial Letters '' by Blaise Pascal attack on casuistry (religious logic at that time)
- '''' by Michael Anthony Sells ISBN 1883991269 Deals with early suras of Koran, some negated by later suras, hence the controversy
- '' Rabbit, Run '' by John Updike
- The ''Rainbow'' series by Alex Sanchez
- '' The Red And The Black '' by Stendhal banned for political reasons
- '' Religion Within The Limits Of Reason Alone '' by Immanuel Kant
- '' The Rights Of Man '' by Thomas Paine was banned in the UK and its author prosecuted for Treason due to its sedititious content
- '' The Rules Of Attraction '' by Bret Easton Ellis (sexuality)
- '' Running Loose '' by Chris Crutcher ALA_2000
- '' Sanctuary '' by William Faulkner (banned for sexuality and violence)
- '' The Satanic Verses '' by Salman Rushdie (banned in Muslim countries for blasphemy, banned in parts of India for political reasons.)
- '' The Scarlet Letter '' by Nathaniel Hawthorne (banned for religious reasons)
- '' Scary Stories '' (Series) by Alvin Schwartz ScaryStories ALA_2000
- '' A Separate Peace '' by John Knowles
- '' Sex '' by Madonna (Pornographic) ALA_2000
- '' Sex Education '' by Jenny Davis ISBN 0531057569 (teen murdered by adult) ALA_2000
- '''' by Betty Dodson masturbation
- '''' by Christine McCafferty and Peter Hammond ISBN 0958398348
- '' Show Me! '' by Will McBride
- '' Silas Marner '' by George Eliot
- '' Slaughterhouse-Five '' by Kurt Vonnegut (Banned for foul language and promoting deviant sexual behavior.) ALA_2000
- '' Sleeping Beauty Trilogy '' by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice's psuedonym) ALA_2000 (banned for graphic sexuality)
- '' Snow Falling On Cedars '' by David Guterson
- '' Song Of Solomon '' by Toni Morrison ALA_2000
- '' Sons And Lovers '' by D.H. Lawrence (sexual themes)
- '' The Sorrows Of Young Werther '' by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe banned for promoting suicide
- '' The Soul Of Man Under Socialism '' by Oscar Wilde (banned for political reasons)
- '' The Spanish Labyrinth '' by Gerald Brenan ISBN 0521398274 ST: An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War, formerly banned in Spain for political reasons.
- '' Spycatcher '' by Peter Wright About MI5. Banned in the UK.
- '' Steal This Book '' by Abbie Hoffman banned in Canada, and many stores in the United States refused to carry it.
- '' Stoner & Spaz '' by Ron Koertge ISBN 0763616087 Romance between middle-class drug-addict girl and boy with cerebral palsy
- '' The Story Of Little Black Sambo '' by Helen Bannerman Racial stereotypes
- '' The Stupids '' (series) by Harry Allard ALA_2000
- '' Summer Of My German Soldier '' by Bette Green ISBN 0803783213 ALA_2000 Teenaged Jewish/Nazi romance, set in USA
- '' Summer Sisters '' by Judy Blume
- '' Sylvester And The Magic Pebble '' by William Steig (The police were portrayed as pigs)
- The '' Talmud '' was banned or censored in many Christian countries - some cities of Medieval Italy , Czarist Russia and others; and in Nazi Germany
- '' Teenage Lust '' by Larry Clark graphic sexual imagery, homoeroticism, drug use
- '' Ten North Frederick '' by John O'Hara was banned in some districts of the USA on account of its sexual content being interpreted as obscene
- '' Teleny '', sometimes attributed to Oscar Wilde homoeroticism
- '' The Terrorist '' by Caroline B. Cooney ALA_2000 (Challenged due to negative portrayals of Arab s and Muslim s)
- '' Tiger Eyes '' by Judy Blume ALA_2000
- '' To Kill A Mockingbird '' by Harper Lee (Banned for the use of racial slurs.) ALA_2000
- '' Tropic Of Capricorn '' by Henry Miller (Banned in the USA for graphic depictions of sexual themes.)
- '' Tropic Of Cancer '' by Henry Miller (Banned in the USA for graphic depictions of sexual themes)
- '' Tulsa by Larry Clark (graphic sexual imagery, drug use)
- '' The Turner Diaries by Andrew MacDonald (Tells the story of a racist revolution. Challenged on those grounds.)
- '' Twelfth Night '' by William Shakespeare
- '' Ulysses '' by James Joyce (Banned in the United States until 1933 because it was considered impossible to read and obscene.)
- '' Uncle Tom's Cabin '' by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Banned in Southern U. S. states as anti-slavery propaganda and for negative depiction of slave-owners; banned in czarist Russia; banned in Waukegan, Illinois (1984) for undesirable racial language (cf. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn).)
- '' United States Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967 U.S. Department Of Defense aka the Pentagon Papers
- '' Understanding Islam Through Hadis '' by Ram Swarup Hindi version banned in 1990.
- '' Venus In Furs '' by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch (banned for obscenity and sado-masochistic themes.)
- '' View From The Cherry Tree '' by Willo Davis Roberts ISBN 0689717849 ALA_2000 Teenaged boy investigates elderly neighbor's death as murder.
- '' We '' by Yevgeny Zamyatin was the first book suppressed by the Soviet Glavlit censorship administration. It was not published in Russian until 1988.
- '' We All Fall Down '' by Robert Cormier ALA_2000
- '' The Well Of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (banned in Britain over its lesbian theme)
- '''' by Lynda Madaras ISBN 1557044430 ALA_2000 Illustrations of puberty's physical effects.
- '''' by Lynda Madaras ISBN 1557044449 ALA_2000 Illustrations of puberty's physical effects.
- '' What My Mother Doesn't Know '' by Sonya Sones ISBN 0689841140 Portrays ninth-grader Sophie as "boy-crazy", examing love vs. lust
- '' Where Did I Come From? '' by Peter Mayle ALA_2000 Illustrated facts of life
- '' Where's Waldo? '' by Martin Handford (Banned from schools for the nudity (effectively toplessness, since no genitalia are visible) of a mermaid in it.) ALA_2000
- '' The Witch Of Blackbird Pond '' by Elizabeth George Speare
- '' The Witches '' by Roald Dahl (Banned for language.) ALA_2000
- '' The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz '' by L. Frank Baum (Banned for fantasy elements and "negativism".)
- '' Women In Love '' by D.H. Lawrence (Banned for sexuality)
- '''' by Nancy Friday ALA_2000
- '' A Wrinkle In Time '' by Madeleine L'Engle (Banned because of pseudo-Christian theme.) ALA_2000
- '' Yerma '' by Federico Garcia Lorca (Banned in Spain for political reasons.)
- '' Yo El Supremo (I, the Supreme)'' by Augusto Roa Bastos (banned in Paraguay under the Stroessner regime for subversivness and perceived criticism of Stroessner)
- '' Youth In Revolt '' by C.D. Payne
The American Library Association periodically releases a list of the most challenged books in libraries in the United States , of the challenges reported to the ALA's Office For Intellectual Freedom . The following list details the 100 most challenged books the years 1990-2000, during which some 6,300 challenges were reported to the ALA. {Link without Title} .
During the last week of September of each year, the ALA celebrates Banned Books Week. Established in 1982, Banned Books Week celebrates freedom of the press and encourages people to read books which have been banned or challenged.
{Link without Title}
- ''100 Banned Books'' by Nicholas J. Karolides, Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova ISBN 0-8160-4059-1 (This is an abridged version of the four volume ''Banned Books'' series.)
- 120 Banned Books: Censorship History of World Literature by Nicolas K. Karolides, Margaret Bald & Dawn B. Sova ISBN 0-8160-6043-6
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