BostonPL_Banned Books: Recommendations for Adult Summer Reading 2023Like this list

23 items

• Gender Queer: A Memoir

  Kobabe, Maia

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  Kobabe charts eir journey of self-discovery, explaining what it means to be nonbinary and asexual. The most banned book of 2022, with 41 bans across 15 states, Gender Queer found itself at the center of the censorship frenzy sweeping the nation.

• The Bluest Eye

  Morrison, Toni

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  A young Black girl in 1941 wishes for blue eyes. Banned in libraries and classrooms in New Jersey, Utah, Florida, and Texas in fall 2022 for being considered sexually explicit and depicting child sexual abuse. Consistently challenged since 2004.

• Fences

  Wilson, August

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  A play that explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations. Banned in classrooms in Loudon County, Virginia in November 2022 due to critical race theory.

• Home After Dark

  a Novel

  Small, David, 1945-

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  An abandoned youth struggles to survive in a dilapidated, racially torn, and chronically violent 1950s California community. Banned in libraries and classrooms in several Missouri counties in September 2022 for being considered sexually explicit.

• Citrus+. Volume 1

  Saburouta (Manga author),

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  Two high school girls whose parents have just gotten married fall in love. Banned in libraries in Independence, Missouri in October 2022 for being considered sexually explicit.

• Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening

  Issues #1-6

  Liu, Marjorie

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  In an alternate, matriarchal 1900s Asia with a steampunk twist, a teenage girl struggles to survive the trauma of war. Banned in libraries and classrooms in Frisco, Texas in October 2022 for being considered obscene content.

• Not That Bad

  Dispatches from Rape Culture

  Gay, Roxane

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  A collection of essays from multiple contributors that explore what it means to live in a world where women are harassed due to their gender. Banned in libraries and classrooms in Clay County, Florida in fall 2022 for descriptions of sexual assault.

• Oryx and Crake

  Atwood, Margaret

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  While The Handmaid's Tale is one of the top 50 most banned books of the past twenty years, Atwood's newer dystopian was also banned in libraries and classrooms in Utah, Texas, Missouri, Florida, and South Carolina in 2022.

• Milk and Honey

  Kaur, Rupi

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  A collection of poetry and prose about survival. Banned in libraries and classrooms in Beaufort, South Carolina, among other states, in Fall 2022 for exploring sexual assault and violence experienced by a young woman.

• Red, White & Royal Blue

  A Novel

  McQuiston, Casey

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  A fake-dating romance between an American president's son and a British prince. Banned in libraries and classrooms in Dearborn, Michigan in September 2022 due to LGBTQ themes and sex scenes considered to be obscene.

• Me and White Supremacy

  Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

  Saad, Layla F.

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  A call for people to take ownership of racist behavior. Banned in high school libraries and classrooms in New York's Somers Central School District for discussing white fragility, breaking instructional policy, and being considered age-inappropriate.

• Corrections in Ink

  A Memoir

  Blakinger, Keri

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  A prison memoir by a woman once jailed for heroin possession, now free and determined to expose the broken system. Banned in Florida prisons in fall 2022 for being considered inflammatory and a threat to the objectives of the correctional system.

• The Kite Runner

  Hosseini, Khaled

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  The story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, set against a backdrop of tumultuous events. Banned in libraries in Beaufort, South Carolina in October 2022 for descriptions of sexual assault, prostitution, violence, and mild profanity.

• Lawn Boy

  Evison, Jonathan

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  A semi-autobiographical coming of age novel about a Mexican American boy’s experience growing up. The fifth most-banned book in the 2021-2022 school year, with bans in 12 states for LGBTQ+ content and sexual activity between children.

• The Pervert

  Issues #10-15

  Perez, Michelle

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  A graphic novel about a trans girl surviving through sex work in Seattle. Challenged on grounds of obscenity, deemed not pornographic after review, but was banned for unspecified other reasons at the Arlington Public Library in Texas in April 2023.

• Girl, Woman, Other

  A Novel

  Evaristo, Bernardine

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  A multi-voiced novel about Black British life. Banned in libraries and classrooms in South Dakota in April 2022 due to LGBTQ themes and descriptions of rape and sexual promiscuity. Rapid City Area Schools ordered all 30 copies of the book destroyed.

• Caste

  The Origins of Our Discontents

  Wilkerson, Isabel

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  An eye-opening look at racism in the United States. Banned from the Llano County Public Library in Texas in November 2021 for discussing racial themes. While restated in 2023 by federal mandate, the book remains banned in many school libraries.

• Maus

  a Survivor's Tale

  Spiegelman, Art,

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  Tells the story of the author's father's experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. This frequently-banned graphic novel was banned in classrooms in Athens, Tennessee in January 2022 due to coarse language and an image of female nudity.

• In the Dream House

  A Memoir

  Machado, Carmen Maria

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  A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse in same-sex relationships. Banned in libraries and classrooms in San Antonio, Texas in late 2021 for descriptions of sexual trauma.

• Beartown

  a Novel

  Backman, Fredrik, 1981-

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  After a scandal in their small town, a hockey team strives for change. Banned in classrooms in North Carolina in 2018 and Florida in 2022 for profanity, gay and immigrant main characters, and discussions of rape culture, suicide, and body image.