Freedom to Read Week

A collection of some of the most challenged/banned books, all available at our libraries!

Books come from lists created by the American Librarian Association, PEN America, and the Freedom to Read Week organization.

Updated February 17, 2026
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Pink, blue, and you : questions for kids about gender stereotypes
Gravel, Elise
Paper Book
Simple, accessible, and direct, this picture book is perfect for kids and parents or teachers to read together, opening the door to conversations about gender stereotypes and everyone's right to be their true selves. Is it okay for boys to cry? Can girls be strong? Should...
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Lo, Malinda.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE; THE ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR YOUTH LITERATURE; THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD (YA); THE PRINTZ HONOR _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Breathless
Niven, Jennifer
Paper Book
The much anticipated new novel from international bestselling author Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places. You were my first. Not just sex, although that was part of it, but the first to look past everything else into me. Some of the names and places have...
Gender queer
Kobabe, Maia.
Paper Book
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner 2020 Stonewall -- Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the...
Bridge of clay
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
From the author of the no.1 New York Times bestselling novel The Book Thief."An amazing talent in Australian literature" Sunday Telegraph The Dunbar boys bring each other up in a house run by their own rules. A family of ramshackle tragedy - their mother is dead, their father has fled - they love...
The hate u give
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
Winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018. Winner of the 2018 Silver Inky Award #1 New York Times bestseller A Teen Vogue Best YA Book of the Year "Stunning."-John Green "A masterpiece."-The Huffington Post "An essential read for everyone."-Teen Vogue "Outstanding." -The Guardian Sixteen...
Princess Princess ever after
O'Neill, Kay (Cartoonist)
Paper Book
A sweet and positive fairy tale in which two princesses meet and embark on an adventure to overcome their own personal obstacles.  2014 Cybils Awards Finalist 2014 Autostraddle Comic Art Award for Favorite Graphic Novel 2017 ALA Rainbow Book List Top...
A court of thorns and roses
Maas, Sarah J.
Paper Book
A gorgeously written tale as lush and romantic as it is ferocious ... Absolutely spellbinding - New York Times bestselling author Alexandra BrackenFeyre is a huntress. And when she sees a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she kills the predator and takes its prey to feed...
Dumplin'
Murphy, Julie
Ebook
This one summer
Tamaki, Mariko
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller A 2015 Caldecott Honor Book A 2015 Michael L. Printz Honor Book An Eisner Award Winner 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...
The adventures of Super Diaper Baby : the first graphic novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins
Beard, George
Ebook
Move over, Dav Pilkey, it's George and Harold's turn to tell the tale of the all-new superhero who's faster than a speeding stroller and more powerful than diaper rash. Make way for Super Diaper Baby!Oh, no! It looks like George and Harold are in trouble again... As punishment, the...
Eleanor & Park
Rowell, Rainbow.
Paper Book
'Reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love, but what it's like to be young and in love with a book' John Green, author of The Fault in our Stars Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic...
Saga. Volume one
Vaughan, Brian K.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2013 Hugo award for Best Graphic Story! When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall inlove, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous olduniverse. From New York Times bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan (...
Drama
Telgemeier, Raina
Paper Book
From Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile and Sisters!Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon over Mississippi, she can't really sing....
Fifty shades of Grey
James, E. L.
Paper Book
MORE THAN 150 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE   Look for E L James's passionate new love story, The Mister, available now. When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a...
It's perfectly normal : a book about changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health
Harris, Robie H.
Paper Book
"Alternately playful and realistic, Emberley's. . . . art reinforces Harris's message that bodies come in all sizes, shapes, and colors -- and that each variation is 'perfectly normal.'" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) When young people have questions about...
Marked
Cast, P. C.
Audiobook
The hunger games
Collins, Suzanne.
Paper Book
  The first book in the ground-breaking Hunger Games trilogy. "A violent, jarring, speed-rap of a novel that generates nearly constant suspense. . . . I couldn't stop reading." Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly "I was so obsessed with this book. . . . The...
The graveyard book
Gaiman, Neil
Paper Book
Discover the bewitching, classic children's novel The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, featuring spellbinding illustrations from Chris RiddellWINNER of the 2010 CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL and the 2009 JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL. ONE OF BBC'S HUNDRED GREATEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF ALL TIME...
Th1rteen r3asons why
Asher, Jay
Audiobook
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER **SOON TO BE A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES** "Eerie, beautiful, and devastating." --Chicago Tribune "A stealthy hit with staying power. . . . thriller-like pacing." --...
Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
DISCOVER the BESTSELLING GRAPHIC MEMOIR behind the Olivier Award nominated musical. 'A sapphic graphic treat' The Times A moving and darkly humorous family tale, pitch-perfectly illustrated with Alison Bechdel's gothic drawings. If you...
Extremely loud & incredibly close
Foer, Jonathan Safran
Paper Book
Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, great explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies, Beatles memorabilia, miniature cacti and coral. When his father is killed in...
Looking for Alaska
Green, John
Paper Book
The unmissable first novel from bestselling and award-winning author of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN. "In the dark beside me, she smelled of sweat and sunshine and vanilla and on that thin-mooned night I could see little more than her silhouette, but...
And Tango makes three
Richardson, Justin
Paper Book
The heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family is now available in a sturdy board book edition. At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family...
The kite runner
Hosseini, Khaled
Ebook
THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER'Devastating' Daily Telegraph'Heartbreaking' The Times'Unforgettable' Isabel Allende'Haunting' IndependentAfghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal...
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Haddon, Mark
Paper Book
'Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them' This is Christopher's murder mystery story. There are also no lies in this story because Christopher can't tell lies. Christopher does not like strangers or the colours yellow or brown or being touched....
Gossip girl
Von Ziegesar, Cecily.
Ebook
The #1 New York Times bestselling series returns with a fresh new cover in time for the highly anticipated HBO MAX series reboot. 'Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side, where my friends and I live and go to school and play and sleep - sometimes with each other. We're smart, we...
Year of wonders : a novel of the Plague
Brooks, Geraldine
Audiobook
A young woman's struggle to save her family and her soul during the most extraordinary year of 1666, when plague suddenly visited a small Derbyshire village and the villagers, inspired by a charismatic preacher, elected to quarantine themselves to limit the contagion. In 1666, plague...
The perks of being a wallflower
Chbosky, Stephen
Ebook
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. Now a major motion picture starring Emma Watson and Logan Lerman. Stephen Chbosky's new film ...
Go ask Alice
Ebook
The shocking true story of a teenager's descent into darkness - perfect for fans of the smash-hit Netflix series, Thirteen Reasons Why. Alice could be anyone - she could be someone you know, or someone you love - and Alice is in trouble ... Being...
The adventures of Captain Underpants : the first epic novel
Pilkey, Dav
Paper Book
Laugh out loud with Captain Underpants, the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Dav Pilkey, the creator of Dog Man!Fourth graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins are a couple of class clowns. The only thing they enjoy more than playing practical jokes is creating their own comic...
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
Maguire, Gregory.
Paper Book
The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony Award-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire's Wicked is established not only...
The golden compass
Pullman, Philip
Paper Book
  The first volume in Philip Pullman's groundbreaking HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, now a thrilling, critically acclaimed BBC/HBO television series. First published in 1995, and acclaimed as a modern masterpiece, this first book in the series won the UK's top awards for...
I know why the caged bird sings
Angelou, Maya
Ebook
The diary of a young girl
Frank, Anne
Paper Book
'June, 1942- I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.' In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank and her family into hiding. For over...
The giver
Lowry, Lois
Paper Book
In Lois Lowry's Newbery Medal-winning classic, twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community. Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic....
The haunted mask
Stine, R. L.
Bone : out from Boneville
Smith, Jeff
Paper Book
Jeff Smith's New York Timesand USA Todaybestselling, award-winning BONEbooks are one of the most popular graphic novel series of all time. Read the first book in this thrilling adventure! After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins - Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone -...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor
Paper Book
Maus : a survivor's tale, my father bleeds history
Spiegelman, Art.
Paper Book
Of mice and men
Steinbeck, John
Paper Book
A superb story of power and beauty, critically acclaimed across the world and now available in a dyslexia-friendly, super-readable format accessible for all readers. Savvy George and gentle giant Lennie are drifters, hustling for a living in a string of dead-end jobs. George...
Brave new world
Huxley, Aldous.
Paper Book
WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY MARGARET ATWOOD AND DAVID BRADSHAW Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Ebook
Ender's game
Card, Orson Scott
Paper Book
'Delivers more than almost anything else within the science fiction genre, Ender's Game is a contemporary classic' - New York Times 'An affecting novel full of surprises.' - The New York Times Book Review on Ender's Game THE HUMAN RACE...
A clockwork orange
Burgess, Anthony
Paper Book
In Anthony Burgess's influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends' intense reaction against their society....
To kill a mockingbird
Lee, Harper
Paper Book
Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025. Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize...
Nineteen eighty-four
Orwell, George
Paper Book
The catcher in the rye
Salinger, J. D.
Paper Book
J. D. Salinger wrote one of the most famous books ever written, The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger wrote many stories and, in 1941, after several rejections, Salinger finally cracked The New Yorker, with a story, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," that was an early sketch of what became a scene in "The...

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