The following have been the most frequently banned or censored books since 1990. We’ll discuss many of these separately on this website.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole

The lion, the witch and the wardrobe by Lewis, C.S.
Challenged in the Howard County, Md. school system (1990) because it depicts “graphic violence, mysticism, and gore. “I’m sure the school system would rather have its children reading something which adheres to “good Christian values.”

Goosebumps (series) by Stein, R.L. (1992-1997)
Often challenged in US libraries for their sometimes-violent content.

Where’s Waldo by Handford, Martin
Removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, N.Y. (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top.

James and the Giant Peach by Dahl, Roald
Challenged at the Deep Creek Elementary School in Charlotte Harbor, Fla. (1991) because it is “not appropriate reading material for young children.” Challenged in two school libraries because the book contains the word “ass” and “promotes” the use of drugs (tobacco, snuff) and whiskey. Removed from classrooms in Stafford County, Va. Schools (1995) and placed in restricted access in the library because the story contains crude language and encourages children to disobey their parents and other adults.

Captain Underpants (series) by Pilkey, Dav (1997-current)
This series was challenged and banned in the US for insensitivity and being unsuited to age group, as well as encouraging children to disobey authority.

Harry Potter (series) by Rowling, J.K. (1999-2007)
These books have been constantly banned in the southern states of the USA because their depiction of the supernatural is seen as anti-Christian. Some further claim that the books promote certain political agendas.

“In Praise of Hate”, a book that is banned in its own country has become a leading contender for a new literary prize (the “Arabic Booker Prize”) that aims to encourage wider reading of novels written in Arabic. The said book has been banned since it was published last year. It is written by the award-winning Syrian scriptwriter and novelist Khaled Khalifa, and the novel is set in Syria in the year 1982.

The story of “In Praise of Hate” centers around the army’s brutal shelling of Hama, where opposition groups were fighting the late President Hafez al-Assad. Khalifa describes himself as staunchly secular, and has said that the novel attacks political ideologies based on religion: “There is fierce and direct criticism of sectarianism which produces the culture of hatred.”

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is run in association with the Booker Prize foundation and is funded largely by the Abu Dhabi Emirates Foundation. None of the shortlist, announced this week, has been translated into another language, and Sigrid Rausing, owner of Granta, has agreed to fund an English translation of the winner. The other shortlisted titles are The Land of Purgatory by Elias Farjouh, Walking in the Dust by May Menassa, Swan Song by Mekkaoui Said and Sunset Oasis by Baha Taher. The winner will be announced on March 10.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 19th century novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is distinct among the world’s most banned books. What makes it different is that both liberals and conservatives have wanted it pulled from libraries–and yet today, both sides regret that sentiment. Let’s take a look at this book and why it engendered such contrary feelings.

Stowe’s novel brought the evils of slavery to the consciences and hearts of the American people by its moving portrayal of slave experience. The author shows us in scenes of great dramatic power the human effects of an economic system in which slaves were property: the breakup of families, the struggles for freedom, and the horrors of plantation labor. She brings into fiction the different voices of the emerging American nation, the Southern slave-owning classes, Northern abolitionists, children, the sorrow songs and dialect of slaves, as well the language of political debate and religious zeal. The novel was, and is, controversial, abrasive in its demand for change, yet also brilliant in the deployment of dialogue, with great comic skill and a power of pathos that made it a runaway bestseller in its time that continues to move us today.

So why have so many sought to ban it? Those on the conservative side have objected to some of the vulgar language in the book. Those on the left, on the other side, protested the use of the word “nigger” to refer to African-Americans, as well as stereotyping the language and attitudes of blacks.

Most on both sides today, though, recognize this book for the great work of art it is. It celebrates the human spirit, using the offending language only to depict lie as it truly is. I urge you, if you’ve not already done so, to pick up a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and spend a weekend reading it. Without doubt, it will inspire you.

The award for “Most Ironic Case of Book Banning” in history goes to Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.” Ironic because the book’s subject matter is–well, the banning of books and other forms of censorship.
“Fahrenheit 451” is a story set in the future and tells the story of Guy Montag. As the story opens, Montag’s profession is the burning of illegally-owned books. But as the story progresses, our “heroes” starts to question the value of his job to society. Eventually he steals a book from a collection that he is sent to burn. I won’t tell you the whole story, but by the novel’s end, the hero has seen how important it is that we have free expression in our society, and that people be free to read or listen to the controversial ideas of others.

So why was Bradbury’s novel so controversial? Why did people want to burn a book about book-burning? Keep in mind, this novel was first published in 1951. This was a time when paranoia about Communism was running rampant, and patriotism was praised–and expected. Pro-Communist material was routinely banned from libraries and bookstores. To attack the practice of book-banning was perceived by some as an expression to keep those Communist books in print.

Incidentally, perhaps the greatest irony of all is that author Bradbury has stated repeatedly that he never meant the book as a commentary about book-burning. Rather, the author says it was a commentary about television replacing books in people’s lives.

As I’ve been writing articles for this site, on many occasions, I’ve run into a quote that seemed almost right for a particular article. But then, for some reason or other, I always seem to decide against including it. So now, I’ve got a whole collection of quotes by noted individuals on the subject of book-burning, just waiting to be used. So let’s use them. Here, then, is my collection of Famous Book-Banning Quotes.

“The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book.”
– Walt Whitman

“There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.”
– Oscar Wilde, the Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.”
– Oscar Wilde, the Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

“Adam was but human – this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple’s sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent.”
– Mark Twain

“All censorships exist to prevent anyone from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.”
– George Bernard Shaw, Preface to Mrs. Warren’s Profession

“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime…”
– Justice Potter Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966)

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
– John F. Kennedy

Lest you think otherwise, it’s not just right-wing fanatics trying to ban books from our libraries and schools. On the liberal side, there has been a real fight in recent years to ban books that promote the idea of Biblical creation. There have been too many instances to mention them all, so let’s use just one prominent one to illustrate this fact.

“Grand Canyon: A Different View” is a 2003 book that offers an alternative view of how the Grand Canyon was formed. Since its publication, it has been the object of a book- banning effort by prominent evolutionists, who have demanded that the Grand Canyon National Park Service remove the text from bookstores within the park.

In the book, author Tom Vail collected essays from 23 contributors (most of whom hold earned doctorates in science). His book presents a creation science viewpoint of the Canyon’s formation that is quite different than what most Canyon visitors are told.

Creation scientists present evidence that the Grand Canyon was formed not by the slow erosion of the Colorado River over millions of years, but by a lot of water over a short period of time.

The controversial “Grand Canyon: A Different View” has been on sale at the Canyon’s bookstores since autumn of 2003. It quickly raised the ire of the presidents of seven science organizations, who jointly signed a December 16 2003 letter to the park’s superintendent urging him to remove the book.

But sales of the book argued differently: Since its original publication, the book has sold out and is being reordered, the Los Angeles Times reported. To date, the book remains available at the store. But maybe not for long.