National Banned Book Week brings attention to this topic and was celebrated this year on Oct. 5-11. 2,452 titles were challenged or banned in 2024. The American Library Association decided to create this national week in 1982, and the creation of it was led by librarian Judith Krug.
The theme of the 2025 Banned Book Week was ‘Censorship is So 1984. Read for your Rights.’ This theme is reflective of the current surge in book bans and the dystopian themes in George Orwell’s novels. Books with themes of race, depression, substance abuse, suicide and mental health issues, violence, sexual situations and LGBTQ+ characters are affected by these bans. Additionally, banned children’s books aim to protect minors from these themes which are deemed obscene.
The most targeted books in 2024 were “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George. M Johnson, a memoir about queer identity; “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, exploring gender and self-identity; “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, a novel about racism, self-hatred and sexuality.
As of 2024, the U.S. ranks 36th in global literacy with an estimated literacy of 79 percent. Additionally, book bans can generate interest in these titles.
More Banned Books:
“The Prince” by Machiavelli
“The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass
“Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
“The Diary of Anne Frank” by Anne Frank
“Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison
“1984” by George Orwell
“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton,
“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry
“The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls
“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
“Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi
“Drama” by Raina Telgemeier
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
“Being Jazz” by Jazz Jennings
“How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi
“An African American and Latinx History of the United States” by Paul Ortiz
“Unpregnant” by Jenni Hendriks
“The Black Flamingo” by Dean Atta
“Red, White, and Royal Blue” by Casey Mcquinton
