As part of the American Library Association’s “State of America’s Libraries” report, the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom releases the 10 most challenged books for each year. To help publicize the trend of libraries and schools across America banning certain books from being read, the Academy Library is joining other libraries across America in celebrating Banned Book Week to promote intellectual freedom. The 10 most frequently banned books in 2012 were:
- Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey. Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
- Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
- Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James. Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
- And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
- The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
- Looking for Alaska, by John Green. Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
- Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz. Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
- The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
- Beloved, by Toni Morrison. Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence
Check out some of these books by reading them and discover for why these books, along with others, such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, have been banned. Look to see if the Academy Library has them available through our online catalog at http://biblion.exeter.edu/ or through our website at http://www.exeter.edu/libraries/553.aspx.
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