How many of these banned books have you read?

These novels were challenged due to religious themes, violence, offensive language, sexually explicit material and more.

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For wordsmiths, the idea of banning books might seem offensive.

While conducting research for his high-school English class, my son discovered that some of his favorite childhood books were on the Top 10 banned and challenged books list. His incredulous response was: “‘Captain Underpants’—really?”

Yes, “Captain Underpants” is on the book of banned books.

The American Library Association has been tracking and raising awareness about “documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries” since 1990.

The organization said that most book challenges are brought by parents and are made in classrooms, school libraries and public libraries. The most common reasons that books are challenged include:

The ALA also said that only about 10 percent of challenged books are removed from the location, thanks to efforts by local librarians, students, teachers and patrons.

Below is a list of the organization’s most challenged books by year. How many have you read?

 

2016

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