Freedom to Read Week: Books about Censorship

A selection of titles which discuss book banning, censorship, and intellectual freedom. Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom.


Updated January 30, 2025
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That librarian : the fight against book banning in America
Jones, Amanda
Paper Book
"Amanda Jones started getting death threats, all for standing up for our right to read . . . but she's not stopped fighting against book bans, or stopped advocating for access to diverse stories."--Oprah Winfrey, in a speech at the 2023 National Book Awards Part memoir,...
Banned books for kids : reading lists and activities for teaching kids to read censored literature
Scales, Pat R.
Paper Book
From the American Library Association comes an expansive guide to teaching banned books to children at home or in the classroom, with a forward by renowned children's author Judy Blume. Books matter. In our polarized environment, the censorship and outright banning of...
A universal history of the destruction of books : from ancient Sumer to modern Iraq
Báez, Fernando
Paper Book
A product of 10 years' research and support from leading American and European universities, A Universal History of the Destruction of Books traces the tragic story which encapsulates: the smashed tablets of ancient Sumer; the widespread looting of libraries in post-war Iraq; the levelling of the...
You can't say that! : writers for young people talk about censorship, free expression, and the stories they have to tell
Marcus, Leonard S.
Paper Book
What happens when freedom of expression comes under threat? In frank and wide-ranging interviews, historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus probes the experience of thirteen leading authors of books for young people. A powerful photo essay on transgender teens is called anti...
Book banning in 21st-century America
Knox, Emily
Paper Book
Requests for the removal, relocation, and restriction of books--also known as challenges--occur with some frequency in the United States. Book Banning in 21st-Century American Libraries, based on thirteen contemporary book challenge cases in schools and public libraries across the United States...
Banned book club
Kim, Hyun Sook
Paper Book
A Junior Library Guild Selection "Highly recommended for readers passionate about activism." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, Starred Review "Sure to inspire today's youthful generation of tenacious changemakers." -- BOOKLIST, Starred Review ...
Read dangerously : the subversive power of literature in troubled times
Nafisi, Azar
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran returns with a guide to the power of literature in turbulent times, arming readers with a resistance reading list, ranging from James Baldwin to Zora Neale Hurston to Margaret Atwood. "[A] stunning look at the power of...
Foundations of intellectual freedom
Knox, Emily
Paper Book
Enshrined in the mission statement of ALA, intellectual freedom is one of the core values of the information professions. The importance of ensuring information access to all, and the historical, social, and legal foundations of this commitment, are powerfully explored in this essential primer....
Censors at work : how states shaped literature
Darnton, Robert
Paper Book
This absorbing history by a brilliant scholar and writer deepens our understanding of how censorship works. With his uncanny ability to spark life in the past, Robert Darnton re-creates three historical worlds in which censorship shaped literary expression in distinctive ways....
Banned together : our fight for readers' rights
Pr?ez, Ashley Hope (EDT)/ Fong, Debbie (ILT)
Paper Book
A dazzling YA anthology that spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read, featuring the voices of 15 diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators. Books are disappearing from shelves across the country.  ...
Roar for reading
Ferry, Beth
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling author Beth Ferry and New York Times bestselling illustrator Andrew Joyner comes a moving picture book about a brave little lion who decides to speak out for stories by standing up to book banning. Libraries and lions have a history...
This book is banned
Haldar, Raj
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of P Is for Pterodactyl Raj Haldar comes a hilarious and thoughtful new picture book that underscores the importance of the fight against censorship in schools and libraries across the world This is a book about dinosaurs....

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