Best Banned and/or Censored Books (or Worst to have banned) (193 books)

Best Banned and/or Censored Books (or Worst to have banned)

This is a list of books that have at one point either been banned, censored, or requested for removal from libraries. This list includes books banned in and out of the US (list is incomplete due to limitations on list size)

all votes add books to this list

1	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 4.18 avg rating — 887,413 ratings score: 38,021, and 389 people voted	My rating:
2	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, #1) by J.K. Rowling 4.29 avg rating — 936,009 ratings score: 29,989, and 307 people voted	My rating:
3	1984 by George Orwell 4.01 avg rating — 521,787 ratings score: 23,409, and 242 people voted	My rating:
4	A Wrinkle in Time (Time, #1) by Madeleine L'Engle 4.03 avg rating — 163,409 ratings score: 17,508, and 181 people voted	My rating:
5	Animal Farm by George Orwell 3.69 avg rating — 594,306 ratings score: 16,986, and 177 people voted	My rating:
6	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) by J.K. Rowling 4.51 avg rating — 533,191 ratings score: 16,791, and 177 people voted	My rating:
7	The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 3.73 avg rating — 662,431 ratings score: 16,500, and 171 people voted	My rating:
8	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll 4.03 avg rating — 98,797 ratings score: 14,938, and 156 people voted	My rating:
9	Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 3.87 avg rating — 317,754 ratings score: 14,728, and 158 people voted	My rating:
10	The Giver (The Giver, #1) by Lois Lowry 4.11 avg rating — 263,997 ratings score: 13,879, and 146 people voted	My rating:
11	Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 3.86 avg rating — 325,444 ratings score: 13,662, and 145 people voted	My rating:
12	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling 4.40 avg rating — 546,303 ratings score: 13,466, and 145 people voted	My rating:
13	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 3.74 avg rating — 509,116 ratings score: 13,431, and 145 people voted	My rating:
14	The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 4.02 avg rating — 521,705 ratings score: 12,853, and 141 people voted	My rating:
15	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) by J.K. Rowling 4.40 avg rating — 537,445 ratings score: 12,768, and 140 people voted	My rating:
16	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling 4.19 avg rating — 532,979 ratings score: 12,610, and 139 people voted	My rating:
17	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) by J.K. Rowling 4.42 avg rating — 516,432 ratings score: 12,265, and 137 people voted	My rating:
18	The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) 3.95 avg rating — 130,629 ratings score: 12,261, and 130 people voted	My rating:
19	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling 4.33 avg rating — 516,399 ratings score: 12,154, and 137 people voted	My rating:
20	Lord of the Flies by William Golding 3.56 avg rating — 574,888 ratings score: 11,548, and 125 people voted	My rating:
21	Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 3.88 avg rating — 82,136 ratings score: 10,821, and 117 people voted	My rating:
22	The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin 3.88 avg rating — 9,563 ratings score: 10,747, and 115 people voted	My rating:
23	The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 3.81 avg rating — 136,186 ratings score: 10,087, and 110 people voted	My rating:
24	Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 3.84 avg rating — 49,119 ratings score: 9,905, and 108 people voted	My rating:
25	Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 4.16 avg rating — 266,483 ratings score: 9,363, and 103 people voted	My rating:
26	Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 3.86 avg rating — 73,086 ratings score: 9,353, and 101 people voted	My rating:
27	His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 4.21 avg rating — 38,077 ratings score: 8,831, and 94 people voted	My rating:
28	Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 3.78 avg rating — 203,230 ratings score: 8,741, and 94 people voted	My rating:
29	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 4.12 avg rating — 96,359 ratings score: 8,566, and 96 people voted	My rating:
30	The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 3.95 avg rating — 108,186 ratings score: 8,036, and 92 people voted	My rating:
31	Holes by Louis Sachar 3.91 avg rating — 116,077 ratings score: 7,970, and 89 people voted	My rating:
32	The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) by Dan Brown 3.60 avg rating — 733,537 ratings score: 7,957, and 90 people voted	My rating:
33	James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl 3.91 avg rating — 80,267 ratings score: 7,734, and 89 people voted	My rating:
34	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 3.93 avg rating — 7,699 ratings score: 7,699, and 88 people voted	My rating:
35	The Color Purple by Alice Walker 4.06 avg rating — 86,730 ratings score: 7,284, and 81 people voted	My rating:
36	Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Goodreads Author) 3.97 avg rating — 69,028 ratings score: 6,844, and 75 people voted	My rating:
37	A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess 3.91 avg rating — 83,131 ratings score: 6,759, and 74 people voted	My rating:
38	Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 3.83 avg rating — 35,749 ratings score: 5,916, and 69 people voted	My rating:
39	Catch-22 by Joseph Heller 3.94 avg rating — 116,871 ratings score: 5,900, and 67 people voted	My rating:
40	The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer 3.42 avg rating — 47,714 ratings score: 5,785, and 66 people voted	My rating:
41	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 3.96 avg rating — 48,205 ratings score: 5,597, and 65 people voted	My rating:
42	All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque 3.73 avg rating — 52,232 ratings score: 5,561, and 63 people voted	My rating:
43	East of Eden: by John Steinbeck 4.30 avg rating — 88,435 ratings score: 5,474, and 63 people voted	My rating:
44	Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks (as "Anonymous") 3.65 avg rating — 52,967 ratings score: 5,420, and 59 people voted	My rating:
45	The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 4.36 avg rating — 212,361 ratings score: 5,290, and 62 people voted	My rating:
46	A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein 4.30 avg rating — 68,136 ratings score: 4,988, and 59 people voted	My rating:
47	Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 4.13 avg rating — 74,659 ratings score: 4,884, and 56 people voted	My rating:
48	The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare 3.71 avg rating — 32,803 ratings score: 4,712, and 57 people voted	My rating:
49	Civil Disobedience and Other Essays: Collected Essays of Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau 3.92 avg rating — 4,090 ratings score: 4,337, and 50 people voted	My rating:
50	The Call of the Wild by Jack London 3.63 avg rating — 53,195 ratings score: 4,205, and 51 people voted	My rating:
51	Holy Bible: King James Version by Anonymous 4.31 avg rating — 30,786 ratings score: 4,115, and 47 people voted	My rating:
52	Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller 3.40 avg rating — 44,268 ratings score: 3,866, and 47 people voted	My rating:
53	Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein 4.15 avg rating — 485,577 ratings score: 3,801, and 46 people voted	My rating:
54	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 3.78 avg rating — 97,947 ratings score: 3,752, and 48 people voted	My rating:
55	Candide by Voltaire 3.72 avg rating — 38,001 ratings score: 3,751, and 45 people voted	My rating:
56	The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson 3.97 avg rating — 11,027 ratings score: 3,544, and 44 people voted	My rating:
57	Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1) by V.C. Andrews 3.58 avg rating — 29,359 ratings score: 3,242, and 38 people voted	My rating:
58	And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson 4.32 avg rating — 1,707 ratings score: 3,199, and 36 people voted	My rating:
59	How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell 3.51 avg rating — 10,300 ratings score: 3,145, and 39 people voted	My rating:
60	Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 4.19 avg rating — 217,404 ratings score: 3,072, and 37 people voted	My rating:
61	Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence 3.45 avg rating — 21,477 ratings score: 2,742, and 35 people voted	My rating:
62	American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis 3.72 avg rating — 34,652 ratings score: 2,689, and 31 people voted	My rating:
63	Forever by Judy Blume 3.61 avg rating — 15,977 ratings score: 2,617, and 31 people voted	My rating:
64	The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins 4.54 avg rating — 427,784 ratings score: 2,586, and 30 people voted	My rating:
65	Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman 3.50 avg rating — 278 ratings score: 2,550, and 33 people voted	My rating:
66	Lysistrata by Sarah Ruden 3.77 avg rating — 5,374 ratings score: 2,537, and 31 people voted	My rating:
67	Blubber by Judy Blume 3.72 avg rating — 12,689 ratings score: 2,461, and 30 people voted	My rating:
68	Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak 3.92 avg rating — 15,203 ratings score: 2,427, and 31 people voted	My rating:
69	Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg 4.17 avg rating — 13,107 ratings score: 2,409, and 30 people voted	My rating:
70	In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak 4.12 avg rating — 3,852 ratings score: 2,290, and 29 people voted	My rating:
71	The Age Of Reason by Thomas Paine 4.08 avg rating — 1,211 ratings score: 2,145, and 25 people voted	My rating:
72	Christine by Stephen King 3.47 avg rating — 35,781 ratings score: 2,144, and 26 people voted	My rating:
73	The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie 3.74 avg rating — 13,680 ratings score: 2,056, and 26 people voted	My rating:
74	Ulysses by James Joyce 3.74 avg rating — 22,025 ratings score: 2,043, and 26 people voted	My rating:
75	As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 3.70 avg rating — 33,685 ratings score: 2,015, and 25 people voted	My rating:
76	Looking for Alaska by John Green 4.27 avg rating — 39,962 ratings score: 1,987, and 23 people voted	My rating:
77	The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956 by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn 4.03 avg rating — 3,759 ratings score: 1,808, and 22 people voted	My rating:
78	Rights Of Man by Thomas Paine 3.92 avg rating — 1,001 ratings score: 1,698, and 21 people voted	My rating:
79	The Chocolate War (Chocolate War, #1) by Robert Cormier 3.42 avg rating — 12,154 ratings score: 1,679, and 21 people voted	My rating:
80	Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 3.89 avg rating — 311,500 ratings score: 1,652, and 19 people voted	My rating:
81	The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio 3.81 avg rating — 5,140 ratings score: 1,609, and 20 people voted	My rating:
82	Grendel by John Gardner 3.65 avg rating — 9,154 ratings score: 1,419, and 19 people voted	My rating:
83	Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan, #1) by Edgar Rice Burroughs 3.79 avg rating — 6,558 ratings score: 1,393, and 19 people voted	My rating:
84	The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis 4.04 avg rating — 3,307 ratings score: 1,358, and 17 people voted	My rating:
85	Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins 4.38 avg rating — 292,682 ratings score: 1,174, and 13 people voted	My rating:
86	Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden 3.88 avg rating — 3,974 ratings score: 1,082, and 12 people voted	My rating:
87	Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner 4.31 avg rating — 10,158 ratings score: 1,057, and 13 people voted	My rating:
88	Beauty's Punishment (Sleeping Beauty, #2) by Anne Rice (author) 3.56 avg rating — 8,149 ratings score: 1,025, and 13 people voted	My rating:
89	The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson 3.77 avg rating — 4,404 ratings score: 1,024, and 14 people voted	My rating:
90	Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig 4.09 avg rating — 6,342 ratings score: 1,016, and 13 people voted	My rating:
91	Peyton Place by Grace Metalious 3.65 avg rating — 2,365 ratings score: 1,001, and 12 people voted	My rating:
91	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 4.19 avg rating — 28,826 ratings score: 1,001, and 12 people voted	My rating:
93	Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland 3.21 avg rating — 1,798 ratings score: 999, and 14 people voted	My rating:
94	Beauty's Release (Sleeping Beauty, #3) by Anne Rice (author) 3.60 avg rating — 7,501 ratings score: 981, and 12 people voted	My rating:
95	The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice (author) 3.36 avg rating — 11,369 ratings score: 956, and 13 people voted	My rating:
96	Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor 3.88 avg rating — 3,441 ratings score: 918, and 11 people voted	My rating:
97	Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite 3.40 avg rating — 144 ratings score: 911, and 13 people voted	My rating:
98	Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich 3.50 avg rating — 96,391 ratings score: 909, and 12 people voted	My rating:
99	Musical Chairs by Jen Knox (Goodreads Author) 4.25 avg rating — 180 ratings score: 896, and 9 people voted	My rating:
100	Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers 3.93 avg rating — 2,667 ratings score: 879, and 11 people voted	My rating:

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193 books · 954 voters · list created January 14th, 2009 by Theresa (votes).

Tags: america, banned, censored, fiction, literature, non-fiction, and world

Lists are re-scored approximately every 500 seconds.

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People Who Voted On This List (954)

Theresa
39 books
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1838 books
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836 books
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Kelly
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Kim
57 books
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Lindsey
796 books
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Annie
49 books
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Post a comment »
Comments (showing 1-49 of 49) (49 new)

date

newest »

message 1: by Vicki (new)

Sep 21, 2009 08:19pm

I feel that it is crazy to ban a book at all, and I can't believe some of the books that are on this list. Oh the ignorance and shallow mindedness of people.

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message 2: by Helena (new)

Sep 30, 2009 10:11am

I bookmarked the list under "to-read books"... if someone does not want us to read it, well it must be interesting stuff.

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message 3: by deleted member (new)

Sep 30, 2009 11:00am

I'm amazed at the number of children's books listed; and, of those so listed, the number I shared for many years with my students...

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message 4: by Poietes (new)

Sep 30, 2009 02:35pm

I know that I shouldn't be, but I am simply amazed by some of the titles that are still on this list. Anytime someone mentions banning a book in the news, I always think back to those images of Nazi' bonfires made from banned books. Don't people get it: Being able to read without censorship is one of the more treasured things of belonging to a democracy. Just think of all of the countries in the world that censor what a person can read. Banned Book Week should be banned.

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message 5: by Susanna (new)

Oct 06, 2009 12:58pm

Uh, Banned Book Week celebrates the books that some people try to ban. And urges people to go read a banned book.

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message 6: by Poietes (new)

Oct 07, 2009 09:20pm

Meant the need for banned book week should be banned...

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message 7: by Adam (last edited Oct 09, 2009 01:50pm) (new)

Oct 09, 2009 01:50pm

i do not believe in "banned" books. that is just pure junk that a book would be "banned"

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message 8: by Adam (new)

Oct 09, 2009 02:00pm

who would want to ban how to eat fried worms? the giver? the giver is AMAZING. i dont get "banned books"

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message 9: by Mikayla (new)

Oct 18, 2009 12:34pm

A wrinkle in time is pretty interesting.It's like my favorite book!!!!!

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message 10: by Mukesh (new)

Oct 31, 2009 07:17pm

Censhorship in any form, outside of an elemantary school, is intolerable. Everything should be avalible to everyone.

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message 11: by Barb (last edited Dec 12, 2009 05:56pm) (new)

Dec 12, 2009 05:56pm

Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

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message 12: by Darius (new)

Dec 30, 2009 05:35pm

Adam wrote: "i do not believe in "banned" books. that is just pure junk that a book would be "banned""

you are an idiot !!!
read some history books or have a conversation with a foreigner or two for a change

the USA is not the center of the world you moron!

just for example the book 1984 by George Orwell was banned in Easter Europe between 1950-1980 and some people were prosecuted and some went jail for having it at home.

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message 13: by Jenn (new)

Feb 10, 2010 07:03pm

Um darius, I believe Adam meant that the idea of banning books is 'pure junk'. Not that it didnt/doesnt happen.

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message 14: by Shauna (new)

Mar 16, 2010 01:47am

I love writing and hope to get a book published someday. If my book were banned, I would feel I was doing something right. Only books with something to say get banned. Be it for religious, moral or magick reasons.

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message 15: by Imani ♥ ☮ (new)

May 08, 2010 01:08pm

It's pretty ironic Fahrenheit 451 is on this list since it IS about censorship.

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message 16: by Elana (new)

Jun 27, 2010 11:18pm

im sorry but most of these r not never mind...

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message 17: by Rachael (new)

Jul 26, 2010 04:34am

i think it's horrible to ban books!!!! i can't belive eaast of eden is banned thats my favorite book in the world

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message 18: by Ronyell (new)

Aug 13, 2010 01:26am

I'm not sure why Robert Munsch's book I have to Go is a banned book. Why was it banned?

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message 19: by Mina (new)

Aug 26, 2010 12:00am

Imani wrote: "It's pretty ironic Fahrenheit 451 is on this list since it IS about censorship."

LOL!!! i thought the exact same thing...I also didnt understand why Shel Silverstein's A Light In The Attic was banned.Well i kind of see cause i think there was something about somebody dying or something along the lines like that in there but come on, really? Does anybody know why this book was banned? And i have to agree banning books are horrible well unless...hmmm i see clearly now why they ban so many books...its still not cool though

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message 20: by Adaji (new)

Aug 26, 2010 04:39am

i think if a writer is inspired and write a book there should be no reason or whatsoever to banned that bbook

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message 21: by Ariel (new)

Sep 27, 2010 12:28pm

The Giver is one of the best books ever written. It has a TRUE meaning and shows us what can happen if we let everything in our world become undistinct and without a unique quality. The Messenger and Gathering Blue are also extremely good books, some of my favorites. His Dark Materials is just showing everyone the fallacies and faults in some organized religion, and it is up to the reader to decide whether the author is right or wrong.

A book should never be banned! Books allow us to explore places we havenot been and extends the mind of children to where they understand more and think freely and without restraints. Reading should have no consequences nor should we have barriers. Even in schools, books with erotic or romantic scenes shouldn't not be kept on the shelves. All literature is to be enjoyed by all ages.

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message 22: by Ariel (new)

Sep 27, 2010 12:31pm

Mina wrote: " Imani wrote: "It's pretty ironic Fahrenheit 451 is on this list since it IS about censorship."

LOL!!! i thought the exact same thing...I also didnt understand why Shel Silverstein's A Light In T..."

Even if someone dies, what about Wizard of Oz, where a man is hanging from a noose in the background? Banning book just shows the true trophies of modern society, entertainment in the form of watching and being told rather than reading and figuring out. I am apalled that there are banned books at all, especially books as creative as Shel silverstein's Light in the Attic.

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message 23: by Emily (new)

Sep 29, 2010 03:42pm

Darius wrote: "Adam wrote: "i do not believe in "banned" books. that is just pure junk that a book would be "banned"

"you are an idiot !!!
read some history books or have a conversation with a foreigner or two for a change

the USA is not the center of the world you moron!

just for example the book 1984 by George Orwell was banned in Easter Europe between 1950-1980 and some people were prosecuted and some went jail for having it at home."

I completely agree with you

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message 24: by Karolina (new)

Sep 29, 2010 03:48pm

Where's "Master and Margarita"?!?

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message 25: by Diane (new)

Sep 29, 2010 03:51pm

Freedom of Press, Freedom of speech .... You best not be banning ANY book. You don't like a book? Don't read it! Simple as that ....

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message 26: by Gaile (new)

Sep 29, 2010 04:38pm

I was a teen in the fifties and back then, when we were told NOT to read a book, it was a sure thing we would read it! I can remember Lady Chatterly's Lover and Peyton Place being slipped from locker to locker. I didn't vote for all the books on the list because some I didn't read but I do think if you ban a book or tell a kid not to read it, he will READ it!

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message 27: by Georgi (new)

Sep 29, 2010 04:50pm

Gaile...I was just going to say the same thing. If someone said we couldn't read it, that was the first book I was going to find a way to get my hands on. LOL

It's unimaginable to me that some of these books are in/have been on the banned list. Many of them were required reading when I was in high school, and there were several that I purchased for my kids.

Just my opinion, but I have always felt that those who ban books are either of the closed minded group or those who fear that people will learn from them (i.e. Eastern Europe with 1984).

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message 28: by Karen (new)

Sep 29, 2010 06:33pm

Some of the best books ever!!!!on this list!

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message 29: by Janet Flora (new)

Sep 29, 2010 07:50pm

I was trying to vote for them all, starting with the children's picture books and poetry (that are harmless!) and the diaries and memoirs and classics and essays and freaking important contributions to literature and culture, all the way down to the ones that I haven't read and don't even want to, but which I would never limit someone else's choice or ability to read, but GR put a limit on my votes so... :(
STOP BOOK BANNING! Books are for reading, not burning!

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message 30: by Howard (new)

Sep 29, 2010 08:16pm

the "man hanging from a noose" in the Wizard OZ movie is actually a peacock walking around in the background of the scene (when they find the tin man). I studied that portion of the film over and over until I figured it out.

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message 31: by Gaile (new)

Sep 29, 2010 09:03pm

Karen wrote: "Some of the best books ever!!!!on this list!"

I had to look at your photo twice to make sure it wasn't Jamie Lee Curtis.

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message 32: by Maja (new)

Sep 30, 2010 09:12am

who the f'ck would bann harry potter?! i thought it should be on list of awfully most profitable books of all time or something like that

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message 33: by ♥Xeni♥ (new)

Oct 07, 2010 03:03am

Amazing how many dystopian novels make it onto banned lists... perhaps that should be looked into more deeply and not just used as a means to ban wonderful books?

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message 34: by Morgan (new)

Dec 05, 2010 12:23pm

i agree wuth Xeni. A few of these books I can see why they were banned or chanllenged, but for the most part those are books I've wanted to read and there were TONS more I couldl think of that aren't on this list. I dont think people are idiots for saying that books shoudlnt be banned. It depends. there are some subject realy young kids shouldn't be subjected to. The fact is, these books are peoples opinions, maybe even people you know and it's un fair to keep these books away from people, when they;ss fund a way to read then anyway

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message 35: by Morgan (new)

Dec 05, 2010 12:23pm

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message 36: by Morgan (new)

Dec 05, 2010 12:24pm

Maja wrote: "who the f'ck would bann harry potter?! i thought it should be on list of awfully most profitable books of all time or something like that"
its mostly just because it talks about witchcraft. that's the only reason

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message 37: by ♥Xeni♥ (new)

Dec 05, 2010 12:40pm

Morgan wrote: "its mostly just because it talks about witchcraft. that's the only reason"

Surprisingly enough, it's not the only reason. Harry Potter revolts against the current government (Ministry of Magic) and governments feel that this could rouse today's youth into revolting against them.

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message 38: by Morgan (new)

Dec 05, 2010 12:45pm

♥Xeni♥ wrote: "Morgan wrote: "its mostly just because it talks about witchcraft. that's the only reason"

Surprisingly enough, it's not the only reason. Harry Potter revolts against the current government (Minist..."
ahh i see.

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message 39: by Amanda (new)

Mar 16, 2011 05:32am

I remember when the Harry Potter books came out when I was in grade school. I began to read them and fell in love with them, but whenever my best friend would come over I had to hide them because her parents thought they were satanic. I'm STILL scared of her parents finding out I've read Harry Potter. That's how bad it is.

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message 40: by Janie (last edited May 22, 2011 09:28am) (new)

May 22, 2011 09:27am

I'd really like more information on where, when and why these books were censored or banned. Some we know about but Harry Potter, Blubber (Judy Blume) and Catcher in the Rye (Salinger) are just three for which I cannot fathom why - there are plenty more mysteries on this list. Even those that I know the reasoning behind I just cannot understand!

In the words of Walt Whitman: Damn all expurgated books; the dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book.

As for banning - it says far more about those doing the banning than the book itself or those who might read it.

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message 41: by Gaile (new)

May 22, 2011 09:51am

The kids see worse on TV and on the computer than they would in books.

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message 42: by Katie (new)

May 28, 2011 06:58pm

Janie wrote: "I'd really like more information on where, when and why these books were censored or banned. Some we know about but Harry Potter, Blubber (Judy Blume) and Catcher in the Rye (Salinger) are just thr..."

I don't know about Judy Blume (I thought she was a 4th grade-ish level book writer??), but I know that Harry Potter was banned from some area Catholic schools because there's magic and that goes against the Bible. Heaven forbid!! As for Catcher in the Rye, I'd assume it's because of the profanity. They think that the kids will actually say the cuss words if they read it.

It's nonsense, really.

I'm not sure anybody really understands except for the ones who do the banning.

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message 43: by Bobbie (last edited Jul 20, 2011 01:08am) (new)

Jul 19, 2011 11:41pm

The more they ban / challenge a book, the more interested people--especially teenagers--are in the book. Young adults are curious, as well as mutinous. When an organization bans a book, young adults realize the "power" the book holds because of how it scares authorities. Hence, they get curious. Hence, they get more interested. Hence, they read.

Thanks to book-banning, I'm discovering more of the best contemporary books written. :)

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message 44: by Rose (new)

Sep 13, 2011 01:39pm

The Anne Rice books, when I read the reason they were banned I laughed. All I can say is look at the genre, it's supposed to be like that.

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message 45: by Meagan (new)

Sep 17, 2011 05:14pm

Some of the reasons why books are banned are ridiculous. I might do a banned books week challenge for my blog.

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message 46: by Becky (new)

Sep 23, 2011 06:26pm

I go alonge with my locol book store: cencership is the assanation of a good idea.

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message 47: by Lynn (new)

Sep 26, 2011 12:29pm

These are good decent books. How dare the goverments try to force us to be alike. Not everybody likes/dislikes these books nor is there ANY reason why people should try to censor something they "think" is not good to read. Ofcourse you wouldn't give a ten year old "Lord of the flies" to read but they are banning the books appropraite for high schoolers too. Freedom of speech. Its in the constitution. Read it!

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message 48: by Melissa (new)

Sep 26, 2011 08:38pm

While I am aware that books are banned because of some in our over sensitive society 'and' by our corrupt Government trying to control EVERYTHING we do, say, see, hear and read, I still sit here in shock at the books that are on this list!! Some I've read or have seen the movie, some I haven't, but quite honestly NO book should ever be banned Period!! We might not like some of the content of some and others it's simply not of interest, but being a long time advocate against all the crap <-----(am I allowed to type that here!? Sarcasm intended) Big Gov. throws at us I'm sadly not surprised. Both the oversensitive and Big Gov. will not rest until they have us ALL living and believing as they do.....kind of like "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"....or was that banned as well? Rhetorical Q. Whether books, television, Movies, music, lifestyle, I personally don't give a rats *ss, the decisions to do or not to do should be left to each individual (within reason of course, because I'm not saying committing crimes should go left unpunished), but outside of that people need to be less judgmental and understand we are NOT all alike and that is one thing that makes this world so wonderful. Could you imagine a world with everybody walking around being exactly the same!! Where would there be room for more learning, expression, sharing, growing, exploring life, having an imagination (which we are born with or will the cloning stop that too) to create new things and ideas....I could easily go on for hours on this topic that for me branches far past books alone, but I might get banned for using too many characters or my punctuation is incorrect, so I'll stop here as the anger, frustration, sadness, disbelief yet not surprised, shaking my head ready to keep fighting the fight I've been a part of for so long and the bile of disgust rises to new levels within me at the thought of the complete ignorance we are surrounded by. I know I'll be back to express some more thoughts if I don't get banned first, which I hope not, because I really like it here. Such a shame.... :(

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message 49: by Talyn (new)

Dec 02, 2011 02:00pm

People have banned books like "Huckleberry Finn" because it features the "N" word and has racism towards blacks. That was the times! And if you censor that, you're basically censoring history. You're making it too "politically correct". And history was NOT politically correct back then. And if you hide the truth, what else will you hide from the public that it NEEDS to know happened?

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