The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie's story of a Native American boy who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school, won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2007. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN Apparently, (literal) toilet talk is seen as unsuitable for the under-10 set. School districts in California and Connecticut tried to ban the series in 2001 because it was allegedly causing unruly behavior among the children. What’s so upsetting about two fourth-grade best friends and their homegrown comic-books-come-to-life? Offensive language, violence, and material unsuitable to the age group.

THE CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS SERIESĬaptain Underpants, Dav Pilkey’s popular series for beginning readers, frequently tops the ALA’s list of most challenged books.

Here are 10 wildly popular 21st-century books that people have tried to ban-and the surprising reasons they were deemed unsuitable material. To promote awareness of this attempted censorship, the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the most commonly challenged books each year.

And more often than not, the books in question are contemporary novels that top the bestseller lists even as their worth is questioned. But that was the 1960s, a time when racial segregation was still legal and sex education was barred from schools-we wouldn’t think of banning books for progressive content today, right? Wrong.Įach year, hundreds of formal challenges asking for the removal of “inappropriate” books from shelves and syllabi are filed with schools and libraries across the country. The fact that classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye were banned when they were first released is now as commonly taught in schools as the books themselves.

Ttyl ttfn l8r g8r