American Library Association Releases List of the 10 Most Challenged Books of 2021
Attempts to ban books in libraries and schools have been at the forefront of the news in recent months, but are certainly not new. The American Libraries Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom has been tracking these challenges for decades and recently named the 10 books that received the most challenges around the country in 2021. Similar to past years, most challenges were related to sex, racism, violence, profanity, and LGBTQ+ content.
All of these titles are available at The New York Public Library in both print and e-book formats, and most are also available as e-audiobooks.
Gender Queer
by Maia Kobabe
In this intensely cathartic autobiography, Kobabe (who uses e/em/eir pronouns) charts eir journey of self-identity. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Lawn Boy
by Jonathan Evison
Mike Muänoz is a young Mexican American not too many years out of high school--and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew. Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can't seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it.
All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto
by George M. Johnson
A first book by the prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist shares personal essays that chronicle his childhood, adolescence and college years as a Black queer youth, exploring subjects ranging from gender identity and toxic masculinity to structural marginalization and Black joy.
Out of Darkness
by Ashley Hope Perez
Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas, in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
Leaving the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school, Junior struggles to find his place in his new surroundings in order to escape his destiny back on the reservation.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
by Jesse Andrews
Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.
The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison
The story of Pecola Breedlove profiles an eleven-year-old African American girl growing up in an America that values blue-eyed blondes and the tragedy that results from her longing to be accepted.
This Book is Gay
by Juno Dawson
A British author of teen fiction offers basic information about the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience, including terms, religious issues, coming out, and sex acts, for people of all orientations, including the merely curious.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
by Susan Kuklin
Shares insights into the teen transgender experience, tracing six individual's emotional and physical journey as it was shaped by family dynamics, living situations, and the transition each teen made during the personal journey.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.