In 2013, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented the banning of 307 books in locations across the United States.

 

The ten most frequently banned books of 2013 were the following:

 

Captain Underpants (Series), by Dav Pilkey.
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence.

 

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence.

 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.

 

Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James.
Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.

 

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group.

 

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone.
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit.

 

Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky.
Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.

 

Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya.
Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.

 

Bone (Series), by Jeff Smith.

Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence.

 

The home page website of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom includes the annual lists of banned books back to 2001 and is available at: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10#2013.

The website includes much more extensive and detailed lists organized by decade, by year, and by author.

Likewise, the Comic Books League Defense Fund website includes a link to its Banned Books Week Handbook: http://cbldf.org/librarian-tools/cbldf-banned-books-week-handbook/?utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2014-09-16&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox

And one of the NCTE blogs includes a provocative essay by the novelist Sherman Alexie, “Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood”: http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/censorship/Authors-Rationales/Alexie_Sherman_BestKidsBooksWritteninBlood.pdf?roi=echo4-27836118397-46560027-2731fcceda78c61d3ba719c061bcb495&utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2014-09-16&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox