Banned Books Guide

Charts Maia Kobabe's journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.

Banned and Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.

Banned and Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes--but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

Banned and Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

Follows the story of a young black girl who longs to be like the blond, blue-eyed children that America loves.

Banned and Challenged for: rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI (equality, diversity, and inclusion) content

Chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

Banned and Challenged for: Profanity and because it was claimed to be sexually explicit

Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems.

Challenged for: Including LGBT characters, drug use and profanity, and being sexually explicit

Transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption.

Challenged for: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence

In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the coming-of-age story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.

Challenged for: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”