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 24, 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
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND STONEWALL BOOK AWARD * From acclaimed author Malinda Lo comes a gripping, tender coming-of-age novel exploring identity, queerness, and historical upheaval set in San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1950s. ...
Breathless
Niven, Jennifer
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places comes a compulsively readable novel about a young woman determined to write her own story--sex, heartbreak, family dramas, and all. "A coming-of-age story that will make your heart ache<...
All boys aren't blue : a memoir-manifesto
Johnson, George M.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller and the #1 Most Challenged Book in America according to the American Library Association In a series of personal essays, award-winning author and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood,...
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...
Bridge of clay
Zusak, Markus
Paper Book
The unforgettable, New York Times bestselling family saga from Markus Zusak, the storyteller who gave us the extraordinary bestseller THE BOOK THIEF, lauded by the New York Times as "the kind of book that can be life-changing." NAMED ONE OF THE BEST...
A day in the life of Marlon Bundo
Bundo, Marlon (Rabbit)
Paper Book
HBO's Emmy-winning Last Week Tonight with John Oliver presents a children's book about a Very Special boy bunny who falls in love with another boy bunny. Meet Marlon Bundo, a lonely bunny who lives with his Grampa Mike Pence, the former Vice President of the...
The hate u give
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best · William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" --Jason Reynolds ...
Boy erased : a memoir of identity, faith, and family
Conley, Garrard
Paper Book
"This brave and bracing memoir is an urgent reminder that America remains a place where queer people have to fight for their lives... Equal parts sympathy and rage, Boy Erased is a necessary, beautiful book." --Garth Greenwell "Every sentence of the story will...
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
THE INSTANTNEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R.R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down! When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like...
Dumplin'
Murphy, Julie
Paper Book
Now a Netflix feature film, starring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, and Dove Cameron, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton! The #1 New York Times bestseller and feel-good YA of the year--about Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and totally unforgettable heroine who...
We are all made of molecules
Nielsen-Fernlund, Susin
Paper Book
 *"This savvy, insightful take on the modern family makes for nearly nonstop laughs."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Stewart, 13: Socially clueless genius. Ashley, 14: Popular with everyone but her teachers   Ashley's and Stewart's worlds...
Melissa
Gino, Alex
Paper Book
BE WHO YOU ARE. When people look at Melissa, they think they see a boy named George. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. Melissa thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web....
Sex is a funny word : a book about bodies, feelings, and YOU
Silverberg, Cory
Paper Book
2016 Winner of theNorma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction 2016 ALA Stonewall Book Award, Honor Book 2016 ALA Notable Children's Book A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender...
This book is gay
Dawson, Juno
Paper Book
The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender! Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. ...
Beyond magenta : transgender teens speak out
Kuklin, Susan.
Paper Book
A 2015 Stonewall Honor Book A groundbreaking work of LGBT literature takes an honest look at the life, love, and struggles of transgender teens. Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used...
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...
I am Jazz!
Herthel, Jessica
Paper Book
The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere "This is an essential tool for parents and teachers to share with children whether those kids identify as trans or not. I wish I had had a...
The adventures of Super Diaper Baby : the first graphic novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins
Beard, George
Paper Book
In this new and outrageous comic novel, Dav Pilkey creates a hilarious l28-page book "by George Beard and Harold Hutchins," the fourth-grade stars of Pilkey's bestselling Captain Underpants series.Oh, no! It's not enough that George and Harold have invented Captain Underpants, the greatest superhero...
This day in June
Pitman, Gayle E.
Paper Book
"The pride primer." --The New Yorker This Stonewall Book Award winner is an excellent tool for teaching respect, acceptance, and understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. This day in June . . . Parade starts soon . . . Rainbow arches . . . Joyful marches! ...
Eleanor & Park
Rowell, Rainbow.
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Best Seller! "Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."-John Green, The New York Times Book Review Bono met his...
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 (...
Me and Earl and the dying girl
Andrews, Jesse
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling novel that inspired the hit film!   This is the funniest book you'll ever read about death.   It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his...
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. Instead she's...
Fifty shades of Grey
James, E. L.
Paper Book
"And in this quiet moment as I close my eyes, spent and sated, I think I'm in the eye of the storm. And in spite of all he's said, and what he hasn't said, I don't think I have ever been so happy." When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey...
The Duff
Keplinger, Kody
Paper Book
An irreverent and irresistible New York Times bestselling romance between the so-called Designated Ugly Fat Friend and the Hot Jock. Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper may not be the prettiest girl in her high school, but she has a loyal group of friends, a...
It's perfectly normal : a book about changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health
Harris, Robie H.
Paper Book
An updated, fifteenth anniversary edition of the definitive book on kids’ sexual health brings this trusted resource into the twenty-first century. Now offering a brand-new chapter focusing on safe Internet use — one of parents’ key concerns — this...
Marked
Cast, P. C.
Paper Book
Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night series by bestselling authors P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good...
The hunger games
Collins, Suzanne.
Paper Book
The first novel in the worldwide bestselling series by Suzanne Collins! Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . . In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve...
The graveyard book
Gaiman, Neil
Paper Book
The original hardcover edition of a perennial favorite, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which has sold more than one million copies and is the only novel to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal.  Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place--he's the only living...
Th1rteen r3asons why
Asher, Jay
Paper Book
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER **THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL, NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES** "Eerie, beautiful, and devastating." --Chicago Tribune "A stealthy hit with staying power. . . . thriller-like pacing."...
The book of negroes
Hill, Lawrence
Paper Book
Abducted from Africa as a child and enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata Diallo thinks only of freedom--and of the knowledge she needs to get home. Sold to an indigo trader who recognizes her intelligence, Aminata is torn from her husband and child and thrown into the chaos of the Revolutionary War....
Nineteen minutes
Picoult, Jodi
Paper Book
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In...
The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian
Alexie, Sherman
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller--over a million copies sold!   A National Book Award winner A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the...
Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult favorite comic artist, marked by gothic twists, a family funeral home, sexual angst, and great books. This breakout book by Alison Bechdel is a darkly funny family tale, pitch-perfectly illustrated with Bechdel's sweetly gothic...
Lush
Friend, Natasha
Paper Book
Natasha Friend is a Judy Blume for today -- clearly evident in this remarkable new novel about a girl whose father is an alcoholic and how she and her family learn to deal with it. It's hard to be a 13-yr-old girl. But it's even harder when your father's a drunk. It adds an extra...
Extremely loud & incredibly close
Foer, Jonathan Safran
Paper Book
ANew York Times Bestseller * NamedA Best Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post Book World, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch,andRocky Mountain News   Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an...
Looking for Alaska
Green, John
Paper Book
The award-winning, genre-defining debut from John Green, the #1 international bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down and The Fault in Our Stars Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award * A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist...
The glass castle : a memoir
Walls, Jeannette
Paper Book
In the tradition of Mary Karr's The Liars' Club and Rick Bragg's All Over But the Shouting, Walls has written a stunning and life-affirming memoir about surviving a willfully impoverished, eccentric, and severely misguided family.
And Tango makes three
Richardson, Justin
Paper Book
And Tango Makes Three is the bestselling, heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family. 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 librarian of Basra : a true story from Iraq
Winter, Jeanette.
Paper Book
*ALA Notable Children's book 2006 * Celebrated author-illustrator Jeanette Winter weaves a hopeful tale of one woman's courageous book rescue. In the Spring of 2003, Alia Muhammad Baker was the city of Basra's real-life librarian....
Crank
Hopkins, Ellen
Audiobook
Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, she meets a boy who introduces her to crank. At first she finds it freeing, but soon Kristina's personality disappears inside the drug. What began as a wild...
The kite runner
Hosseini, Khaled
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel beloved by millions of readers the world over. "A vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people [of Afghanistan] have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence--forces that continue to threaten them even today...
Blankets
Thompson, Craig
Paper Book
Named one of Time's top 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time! "...A rarity: a first-love story so well remembered and honest that it reminds you what falling in love feels like. ...achingly beautiful." - Time magazine Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin...
The family book
Parr, Todd
Paper Book
This beloved classic celebrating all kinds of families is a perfect entry into the world of New York Times bestselling author Todd Parr. With his colorful illustrations, playful humor, and inclusive storytelling, beloved author Todd Parr has long been a...
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Haddon, Mark
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A modern classic--both poignant and funny--about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world. "Disorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.......
Gossip girl
Von Ziegesar, Cecily.
Audiobook
Serena van der Woodsen is back from boarding school -- but is she still the Upper East Side's It Girl? The wickedly funny first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that inspired the original hit CW show and the HBO Max series. Welcome to...
Year of wonders : a novel of the Plague
Brooks, Geraldine
Paper Book
"Plague stories remind us that we cannot manage without community . . . Year of Wonders is a testament to that very notion." - The Washington Post An unforgettable tale, set in 17th century England, of a village that quarantines itself to...
Speak
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Paper Book
This special anniversary edition of Anderson's National Book Award-winning novel includes an new Introduction and Afterword by the author, resources, a discussion guide, and a special preview of Anderson's newest book, Wintergirls.
The perks of being a wallflower
Chbosky, Stephen
Paper Book
"A timeless story for every young person who needs to understand that they are not alone." --Judy Blume "Once in a while, a novel comes along that becomes a generational touchstone. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books." --R. J. Palacio, #1 New York...
Go ask Alice
Paper Book
The acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teen girl's harrowing descent into drug addiction--a cautionary tale as heart-wrenching, shocking, and timely as ever. January 24th After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs... It...
The adventures of Captain Underpants : the first epic novel
Pilkey, Dav
Paper Book
Fourth graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins invent the wedgie-powered superhero Captain Underpants in the first book in this #1 New York Times bestselling series by Dav Pilkey, the author and illustrator of Dog Man!George and Harold are a couple of class clowns. The only thing they enjoy...
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
Maguire, Gregory.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, and smash hit movie series starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire's Wicked is established not only as a commentary...
A child called "it" : one child's courage to survive
Pelzer, David J.
Paper Book
This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him...
The golden compass
Pullman, Philip
Paper Book
The modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an "All-Time Greatest Novel" and Newsweek hailed as a "Top 100 Book of All Time." Philip Pullman takes readers to a world where humans have animal familiars and where parallel universes are within reach. ...
I know why the caged bird sings
Angelou, Maya
Paper Book
Maya Angelou's debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS's American Masters. Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself....
The diary of a young girl
Frank, Anne
Audiobook
Journal of a Jewish teenager describes the joys and torments of daily life and typical adolescent thoughts throughout two years spent in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
The giver
Lowry, Lois
Paper Book
Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and...
The haunted mask
Stine, R. L.
Paper Book
Goosebumps now on Disney+!How ugly is Carly Beth's Halloween mask? It's so ugly that it almost scared her little brother to death. So terrifying that even her friends are totally freaked out by it. It's the best Halloween mask ever. With yellow-green skin and long animal fangs, the mask...
Draw me a star
Carle, Eric.
Paper Book
Draw me a star. And the artist drew a star. It was a good star. Draw me a sun, said the star. And the artist drew a sun. And on the artist draws, bringing the world to life picture by beautiful picture until he is spirited across the night sky by a star that shines on all he has made. In...
Bone : out from Boneville
Smith, Jeff
Paper Book
A special edition of the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling graphic novel that launched Scholastic's Graphix imprint. Includes 32 pages of bonus artwork, including a brand-new illustrated poem by Jeff Smith!In 2005, Scholastic launched Graphix with the publication of Jeff Smith's BONE in full color. To...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (The New York Times) * The sixth and final season of the award-winning Hulu series starring Elisabeth Moss is now streaming ...
Of mice and men
Steinbeck, John
Paper Book
A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression "A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick." --The New York Times John Steinbeck's classic novella follows an...
The house of the spirits
Allende, Isabel
Paper Book
A best seller and critical success all over the world, The House of the Spirits is the magnificent epic of the Trueba family -- their loves, their ambitions, their spiritual quests, their relations with one another, and their participation in the history of their times, a history that becomes...
Brave new world
Huxley, Aldous.
Paper Book
Now more than ever: Aldous Huxley's enduring masterwork must be read and understood by anyone concerned with preserving the human spirit "A masterpiece. . . . One of the most prophetic dystopian works." --Wall Street Journal  Aldous Huxley's...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick Winner of the Pulitzer Prize * Winner of the National Book Award   Published to unprecedented acclaim,The Color Purple established Alice Walker as a major voice in...
Scary stories to tell in the dark
Schwartz, Alvin
Paper Book
This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz's popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright. There is a story here for everyone -- skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her...
Ender's game
Card, Orson Scott
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game--adapted to film in 2013 starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford--is the classic Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction novel of a young boy's recruitment into the midst of an...
A clockwork orange
Burgess, Anthony
Audiobook
A vicious fifteen-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and...
To kill a mockingbird
Lee, Harper
Paper Book
Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South--and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred. One of the most cherished stories of...
Nineteen eighty-four
Orwell, George
Paper Book
Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever... This 75th Anniversary Edition includes: *...
The catcher in the rye
Salinger, J. D.
Paper Book
The "brilliant, funny, meaningful novel" (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions of readers around the world a lifelong love of books.     "If you...

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