Banned Books Week: 10 Most Challenged Books of 2010

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to ReadAccording to the American Library Association, there were 348 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2010, and many more go unreported.

The 10 most challenged titles of 2010 were:

And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit.

The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins. Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group.

Lush by Natasha Friend. Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group.

What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones. Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint.

Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie. Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit.

Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer. Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group.

The American Library Association has also released an interactive map that reflects cases of book challenges documented by ALA and the Kids’ Right to Read Project (2007-2011), a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. The map details specifically where each challenge came from, what book(s) it was for, and the reason given for the challenge.




For more information on getting involved with Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, visit their official website.

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