In a record year for book challenges, a memoir about growing up nonbinary and asexual has topped the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) annual Top 10 Most Challenged Books list, and books with LGBTQIA+ and Black characters remained dominant among all censorship attempts.
The Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021 list was released today as part of the ALA’s annual “State of America’s Libraries Report.” In 2021, the report says, “libraries found themselves at the center of attacks orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media that targeted books about race, gender, and LGBTQIA+ issues for removal from public and school library shelves and, in some cases, included threats of book burning.”
This led to a record 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services, leading to more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals, said the ALA. This was up from 156 challenges and 273 books banned in 2020, and 377 challenges with 566 books banned in 2019. (2020 was likely lower because of pandemic-related library closures.) “Challenges” are documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries, calculated from censorship reports submitted through the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom as well as from media mentions.
The Top 10 most challenged books were:
- Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe (Bookshop; Amazon)
. Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to have sexually explicit images.
- Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
- All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson (Bookshop; Amazon)
- Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Perez (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted for depictions of abuse and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
- The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda.
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and use of a derogatory term.
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and degrading to women.
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned and challenged because it depicts child sexual abuse and was considered sexually explicit.
- This Book is Gay, by Juno Dawson (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned, challenged, relocated, and restricted for providing sexual education and LGBTQIA+ content.
- Beyond Magenta, by Susan Kuklin (Bookshop; Amazon). Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and because it was considered to be sexually explicit.
ALA President Patricia “Patty” Wong explained in a statement, “We support individual parents’ choices concerning their child’s reading and believe that parents should not have those choices dictated by others. Young people need to have access to a variety of books from which they can learn about different perspectives. So, despite this organized effort to ban books, libraries remain ready to do what we always have: make knowledge and ideas available so people are free to choose what to read.”
Wong noted in the ALA report that “library professionals are losing their jobs” to protect the fundamental right to read. Some have even faced the threat of prosecution, as in Wyoming, where a group of residents led by a local pastor filed criminal complaints, “requiring the appointment of a special prosecutor who weighed the possibility of prosecuting public library officials for shelving books some said were obscene in sections intended for children and young adults.”
It is young people who suffer the most from these bans, however. As Wong added in a more personal note:
As a Chinese American with roots in Hawai’i and California, I did not find myself or my community reflected in history books or in stories I read. It was as if I didn’t exist. But today, diverse books create a better lens through which all children can see themselves in library collections. And yet these very titles—the ones addressing cultural invisibility and cultivating understanding—are the ones that are most frequently challenged.
All kids need to see their world and the world around them reflected in authentic ways. Books are a vital part of that. I am heartened by the sheer number of new and upcoming books for young people that are inclusive of LGBTQ people and those with other marginalized identities (and there are some really good ones coming out later this year, so stay tuned). Yes, they will face challenges and sometimes bans—but the more books there are, the harder it will be to stop them. I also have no doubt that kids will find ways of obtaining them and that enterprising adults (librarians and otherwise) will help make them available.
I’ve written before about some of the many recent efforts to fight book bans. Wong offers these suggestions as well:
- Speak up for the freedom to read and support library staff and educators as we work to address this threat to democracy.
- Vote in local elections and attend school board and city council meetings.
- Contact your state legislators and tell them to vote against censorship bills.
- Report threats to the freedom to read wherever you see them. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom encourages everyone to report any and all challenges to materials, online resources (including databases), programs, speakers, displays, reading lists, and author visits. No matter is too insignificant.
I’ll also add: Go read a banned book—then see what you can do to pass it along to a young person or donate it to a school, library, or community center!
(As an Amazon Associate and as a Bookshop Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.)