Read banned books

federal and state Republicans are trying to limit your right to read what you want to read.

We think that’s a little crazy—not to mention, it’s a key step in the march to an authoritarian regime that wishes to control your access to information, art, and facts.

ON THIS PAGE

  • Banned book lists
  • Where to find books
  • About banning books

Over the upcoming long winter, why not curl up with "dangerous" books?

Here are some great lists for your whole family!

Most Banned Books of the 2023–2024 School Year

  • Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, 98 bans
  • Looking for Alaska, by John Green, 97 bans
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, 85 bans
  • Sold, by Patricia McCormick, 85 bans
  • Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, 76 bans
  • Crank (Crank Series), by Ellen Hopkins, 76 bans
  • Identical, by Ellen Hopkins, 74 bans
  • The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, 73 bans
  • The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, 67 bans
  • Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen, 66 bans
  • Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins, 66 bans

—from PEN America

Eight Books Banned in 50 or More School Districts in the 2023-2024 School Year

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Flamer by Mike Curato

American Library Association

Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 2010–2019

  1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  2. Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey
  3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  4. Looking for Alaska by John Green
  5. George by Alex Gino
  6. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
  7. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
  8. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
  9. Internet Girls (series) by Lauren Myracle
  10. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  11. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  12. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  13. I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel
  14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  15. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  16. Bone (series) by Jeff Smith
  17. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
  18. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
  19. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss
  20. Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg
  21. Alice McKinley (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
  22. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris
  23. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
  24. Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz
  25. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  26. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  27. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
  28. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  29. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  30. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  31. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
  32. It’s a Book by Lane Smith
  33. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  34. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
  35. What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
  36. A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer
  37. Bad Kitty (series) by Nick Bruel
  38. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
  39. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
  40. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
  41. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey
  42. This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman
  43. This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
  44. A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
  45. Beloved by Toni Morrison
  46. Goosebumps (series) by R.L. Stine
  47. In Our Mothers’ House by Patricia Polacco
  48. Lush by Natasha Friend
  49. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
  50. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  51. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
  52. The Holy Bible
  53. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
  54. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  55. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
  56. Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar
  57. House of Night (series) by P.C. Cast
  58. My Mom’s Having A Baby by Dori Hillestad Butler
  59. Neonomicon by Alan Moore
  60. The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake
  61. The Giver by Lois Lowry
  62. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
  63. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
  64. Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle
  65. Dreaming In Cuban by Cristina Garcia
  66. Fade by Lisa McMann
  67. The Family Book by Todd Parr
  68. Feed by M.T. Anderson
  69. Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
  70. Habibi by Craig Thompson
  71. House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
  72. Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah Hoffman
  73. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  74. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
  75. Nasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette Winter
  76. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan
  77. Stuck in the Middle by Ariel Schrag
  78. The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal
  79. 1984 by George Orwell
  80. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
  81. Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
  82. Awakening by Kate Chopin
  83. Burned by Ellen Hopkins
  84. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
  85. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
  86. Glass by Ellen Hopkins
  87. Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesle´a Newman
  88. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  89. Madeline and the Gypsies by Ludwig Bemelmans
  90. My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis
  91. Prince and Knight by Daniel Haack
  92. Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology by Amy Sonnie
  93. Skippyjon Jones (series) by Judith Schachner
  94. So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
  95. The Color of Earth (series) by Tong-hwa Kim
  96. The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter
  97. The Walking Dead (series) by Robert Kirkman
  98. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
  99. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S Brannen
  100. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

WHERE to find banned (and other) books

Books unbanned

Inspired by the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement and the Library Bill of Rights, Brooklyn Public Library founded Books Unbanned in 2022 to support the rights of teens nationwide to read what they like, form their own opinions, and work together with peers across the nation to defend and expand the freedom to read.

Books Unbanned responds to an increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books tackling a wide range of topics from library shelves in schools and public libraries nationwide. Partnering libraries provide free digital library cards to teens across the country to enhance access to frequently banned materials and support the freedom to read.

Books Unbanned is partnered with five libraries that issue free cards to young people, no matter where they live in the United States:
  • The Brooklyn Public Library issues library cards to people ages 13-21.
  • The Boston Public Library, LA County Library, San Diego Public Library, and the Seattle Public Library issue library cards to people ages 13-26.

Visit this website to get a free library e-card: 

https://booksunbanned.com/

books online

This site features selected books that have been the objects of censorship or censorship attempts. Here you can read about these books, and about attempts to ban them. You can follow links to sites that discuss these books, to the catalogs of libraries that may lend them to you, and to booksellers that may sell you copies. You can also read some of these books online for free via The Online Books Page.

https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/banned/

hoopla

This tool puts your public library at your fingertips. Anytime. Everywhere! Borrow and enjoy audiobooks, eBooks, comics, movies, TV, magazines, or music everywhere you have a screen—your computer, your phone, your car, even your TV. All you need is a library card. hoopla syncs across all your devices, so you can stream titles immediately or whenever you’re in the mood. Most titles can also be downloaded to your phone or tablet. hoopla offers more content, in more places, than any other digital library platform and it’s all FREE thanks to your public library! Titles may vary based on library catalog.

Check out Fairfield County District Library’s digital resources to find Hoopla

libby

With Libby, you can enjoy free ebooks, digital audiobooks, and magazines from your library. All you need is a library card. Find and download the Libby app on Fairfield County District Library’s digital resources

Free books: Google
minecraft (...yes, truly!)

Yes, that Minecraft. An open library, built in an open-world game to overcome censorship!

On March 12, the “World Day Against Cyber Censorship”, The Uncensored Library opened its doors. Providing access to independent information to young people around the world through a medium they can playfully interact with. Journalists from five different countries now have a place to make their voices heard again, despite having been banned, jailed, exiled and even killed.

Their forbidden articles were republished in books within Minecraft, giving readers the chance to inform themselves about the real political situation in their countries and learn the importance of press freedom.

https://www.uncensoredlibrary.com/en

the palace project

Enjoy instant access to ebooks and audiobooks from your library—no matter where you are: https://thepalaceproject.org/

including the Banned Book Club, where you can get a virtual library card: https://thepalaceproject.org/banned-book-club/

many books

This site is a catalogue of thousands of free eBooks. Here, you can access a variety of banned books, including political cornerstones like Candide by Voltaire and The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine. Simply click on the title you’re interested in, and you’ll be asked to sign in, either using your Google account or creating a new account on the site itself. Afterwards, click “Free Download” where you can choose the format you are seeking: a PDF, an eBook (which can also go directly onto your Apple Books library), and more.

https://manybooks.net/

project gutenberg

This site is a library of over 75,000 free eBooks. Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks, for you to enjoy.

https://www.gutenberg.org/

25 places for free kindle books

“21 Best Places to Get Free Kindle Books in 2025” (Lifewire)

https://www.lifewire.com/places-to-get-free-kindle-books-1357954