This week (September 21-27) is Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and express ideas, even those considered unorthodox or unpopular. Click HERE to visit the official website or HERE to visit the American Library Association's Banned Books Week webpage. (And, of course, be sure to check out MRC's Banned Books Week display in person!)
Click 'Read More' (below right) to see a shortlist of books available in MRC which were challenged, restricted, removed, or banned in the U.S. over the course of last year (as reported in the Newsletter of Intellectual Freedom). You can also click HERE to access a pdf document containing the entire list -- plus an explanation of why each book was challenged -- available through the Illinois Library Association's website.
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
- The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
- Bless Me, Ultima, by Rodolfo Anaya
- The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
- Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
- Looking for Alaska, by John Green
- I Hunt Killers, by Barry Lyga
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
- Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
- Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell
- Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi
- A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
- The Color Purple, by Alice Walker