Banned Books discussion
BANNED BOOKS GROUP READS
>
What shall we read next?
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
Mod
Mod
Toni Morrison seems to be the most banned classic author. I didn't like Beloved so much. I knew some of the real story by the time I read it and the storytelling style was different. I preferred The Bluest Eye which is uncomfortable on purpose but it's not what the censors claim it is. Did we read the same book?!
The Color Purple doesn't seem to be in schools much. It is graphic in the beginning, there's domestic abuse and one lesbian love scene but it's a beautiful book if you make it all the way to the end! I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't been reading it in class.
I've never read John Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men?I'm almost finished with the Bone: The Complete Edition series. They have been wonderfully fun escapism. I'd recommend them to kids 10 and up (not because of content, some of the dialog and vocab might be tricky for younger kids).
For nonfiction, I have a copy of The 57 Bus that I've never read.
Mod
Anyway, I like all those suggestions. Let's see if we can get anyone else to weigh in.
Mod
I'm almost finished with the Bone: The Complete Edition series. They have been wonde..."
REALLY? I read both in junior high! Grapes of Wrath I think was just the movie plus lesson plans in science on why the dust happened and in social studies on the history of the Dust Bowl migrants. We read a ton of Steinbeck in Junior High. They've bumped him to high school now, I guess. My nieces read Of Mice and Men in 9th grade and niece #1 didn't think it was an accurate portrayal of someone with a disability even though she understood it was a product of the time in which it was written.
While my 8th grade English class slogged through Steinbeck, the other class got to read To Kill a Mockingbird. I think niece #1 liked that one, I'll call her "Scout" since her parents mentioned that was their favorite book and I thought for sure that was going to be her name.
QN, I grew up in a very small NY town. My English teachers had a hard enough time getting most of my classmates to read *anything*. I'm in my 40s now, and I still marvel at all the things "most" kids got assigned to read in school. I think I was assigned to read TKAM in 10th grade, and even then, there were parts of it that were above my classmates' heads. It's also my favorite book, I wanted to name one of our cats Scout. We never read Steinbeck (as noted), Hemmingway, Virginia Woolf, Dickens, Toni Morrison, Russian lit, etc. It was only a few years ago that I first read Anne Frank's diary (honestly, I was bored by it, and not sure my teenage self would have been much more impressed). I'm not sure if my school self-censored, or if it was a realization that the students couldn't handle literature like that. Anyway, it's part of why I'm trying to catch up with banned books and I also chip away at the 1001 books to read before you die list, since I had such a slow start! :)
Mod
Wow that's awful! I had a better education in Junior High than High School - in the 90s, plus I took a few summer high school classes at an Ivy League University. We read the entire canon of dead white men from Homer to Dante to Shakespeare to Dickens to Steinbeck. The only woman I remember making the cut was Emily Brontë and in the textbook, excerpts from Sarah Orne Jewett. Then in college I majored in Literature and made it a point to take classes in women's literature and African American literature. I read TKAM on my own.
There's several editions of The Diary of a Young Girl. There's the original 1950s sanitized edition her father had published. There's the original private diary Anne kept and the public diary Anne kept for posterity.
https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-fra...
I can see the sanitized version being boring but Anne's private thoughts speak to what teen girls are thinking and feeling. I was too young when I read it the first time but I liked it. The Diary of Anne Frank: The Definitive Edition is much better. Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family is an excellent supplement. Anne Frank: The Biography: Updated and Expanded with New Material is wonderful. I also read Hannah Goslar Remembers but not the more recent adult memoir My Friend Anne Frank: The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds.
Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation is the graphic novel adaptation and I thought it was well done. My niece #1's class read a play based on the diary and she loved it and doesn't want to look at the graphic adaptation.
I'm not sure which version of Anne Frank I read. I'm trying to think if we read many female authors, but I can't recall. We read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in 9th grade (again, a book meant for younger readers), which is an excellent banned book. I remember reading lots of plays and mythologies. We did read one Shakespeare play a year. I loved Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Antigone. We also did a lot of independent reading, where we picked our own books. I could have been steered towards Steinbeck or Hemmingway or whatever with those, but I wasn't.
Kelly, I agree, I wish more people stopped in to read the books or comment if they've read them before. I'm not sure how to get more people joining in, either. Especially since book banning, freedom of speech, and just about every other right in the US is under threat right now, it's especially pertinent. Some of my other groups post monthly (or weekly, but maybe lets start slow) questions related to books and reading. We could do that with a focus on book bans. I'd be willing to post questions if people help me think of some.
Favorite book that's been banned, favorite author, what books have been challenged/banned in your area, what other organizations do you belong to that are about book banning.... etc.
Mod
Mod
EveryLibrary is the organization fighting book bans and library issues.
I belong to Red, Wine and Blue, a group of suburban moms + other women fighting for democratic causes
In Florida you have the Florida Freedom to Read Project and they've inspired other groups in other states.
Other Banned Book Clubs in this thread
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
QNPoohBear wrote: "We didn't have a choice in my English classes. We had to read the canon of classics. We did read Willa Cather's My Ántonia in high school. I really liked that one. EveryLibrary is th..."
Where is Red, Wine and Blue located?
Mod
https://redwine.blue/
They do banned book clubs, discussions on various topics, how to make good trouble and frequent appearances by everyone's favorite political historian Heather Cox Richardson.
Mod
Mod
It's the #1 banned book in America and even my sister tried to ban it based off misinformation she read on social media. My sister-in-law heard us arguing about it, checked the book out of the library, read it herself and returned it. Her young teenage daughter wanted to read it eventually got ahold of the book. She said it was OK. Some parts were grown up but she could see why the book would be helpful to people.
Then we should read All Boys Aren’t Blue. I flipped through that one and found his writing style very boring. I didn't think it was too graphic. It's a memoir of things that happened to him and many other people.
Next And Tango Makes Three
which is about PENGUINS at a zoo trying to keep their species alive. Two male penguins raise an egg to a chick. They've since "broken up" but it's quite common among penguins to form male-male partnerships. A zookeeper explained penguins are clumsy by nature and often the eggs break so when the zookeeper notices a clumsy female, they sometimes take the egg away and give her a false egg or rock to sit on and give the egg to another penguin couple. Sometimes those penguin couples are two males. They're animals in a zoo. Honorable mention for reading next is Worm Loves Worm
They're worms. It's silly and not meant to be taken seriously but because it challenges the concept of a traditional wedding with a bride in a white dress and a groom in a tux, it's banned.
My favorite classic is The Color Purple but that's not in a lot of schools and it IS a tough read.
I also really liked The Bluest Eye which is in no way pr0nographic nor pedo____. I don't think anyone who grew up like Pecola would bat an eyelash at what happened. No, this book isn't for everybody but I felt the theme was interesting and eye-opening for a little White naive suburban girl naively off at college in the big city!
QNPoohBear wrote: "I think we should read Gender Queer: A MemoirIt's the #1 banned book in America and even my sister tried to ban it based off misinformation she read on social media. My sister-in-l..."
Great idea!
I taught The Bluest Eye in my AP Lit class, and it was a hit.
message 119:
by
Kelly (Maybedog), Minister of Illicit Reading
(last edited Jul 21, 2025 06:47PM)
(new)
Mod
Here is what I'm hearing you all say plus my own spin. I love the idea of having new books that maybe people haven't heard of. I think that might draw people in since they won't have read it.
Number 1: I definitely think we should use the gender queer book if that's the number one banned book in America right now.
Picture book: I also like having a picture book. And Tango Makes Three is really well known so how abut Worm Loves Worm? Other options are The Family Book about all types of families, Baseball Saved Us (Japanese internment camp), No, David! (Caldecott Honor book where kid runs nake through streets), The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil (Islamic), Everywhere Babies (gay content)
Play/Classic: Then I think a play would be great. I can't find Antigone being banned but Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has. The only problem I see is that we potentially have three books banned on gay content.
I think those examples of classics are books well on their way but I think they're too new to really be considered classics. Plus, the color purple also has been banned on gay content. :) And we've read it here. I love that Shakespeare's Twelfth Night has also been banned due to gay content! If you don't like a play, I put forth something by Jonathan Swift. He wrote Gulliver's Travels but he wrote a lot of satire like Eat the Poor. Whatever we choose would probably be funny which is different.
How about the Merchant of Venice? That was banned due to being anti-semitic. I think it would be a good choice since I think the vast majority of books are banned by conservatives worry about books being anti-family and Christianity. This one was probably challenged by liberals and is a subject that I, for one, am very cognizant of. Ths would cover play and classic. But there are others. I think we've read Romeo and Juliet but Twelfth Night is another option.
Novel: We've read Roll of Thunder a couple of times in this group so I'd rather choose something else. Since we have a picture book and a young adult graphic book, I think a mainstream adult novel is a good choice. What about 19 minutes, about the time leading up to a school shooting? Or A Court of Thorn and Roses which is fantasy, not as common a genre to be banned? Or Identical about twins who deal with abusive childhood differently? I was trying to look for something that isn't about kids and that is a pretty recent book. None of those qualify for the latter. I don't know how to search Google for that though. I'm not getting what I'm looking for.
How is that looking so far? I want this to be really good since they'll probably be up for many months giving people time to read them.
Mod
Keep on suggesting and maybe I'll do a poll.
Mod
It's the #1 banned book in America and even my sister tried to ban it based off misinformation she read on social me..."
You're a teacher? It's so nice to get that perspective!
I *love* Jodi Picoult's books. Most of them deal with young people, but they aren't necessarily the main character. After some digging, I found the following 20 books(!!) of hers were banned in Martin County FL
These ones I have not read:
Nineteen Minutes
Keeping Faith
Handle with Care
House Rules
Change of Heart
Leaving Time
Lone Wolf
Mercy
Picture Perfect
Second Glance
Sing You Home
Songs of the Humpback Whale
The Tenth Circle
Vanishing Acts
These ones I have:
The Pact My favorite of hers (post high school MCs)
Salem Falls (adults)
Plain Truth (adults)
Perfect Match (adults)
My Sister’s Keeper (teens)
The Storyteller My least favorite of hers (adults)
ETA: I'm not suggesting we consider all of these books! I just wanted to offer some other suggestions for books of hers that might not have teens/youth as MCs.
message 123:
by
Kelly (Maybedog), Minister of Illicit Reading
(last edited Jul 21, 2025 10:30PM)
(new)
Mod
Mod
message 125:
by
Kelly (Maybedog), Minister of Illicit Reading
(last edited Jul 21, 2025 11:15PM)
(new)
Mod
Where should I put that so other people see it? I don't think people read start here threads.
message 126:
by
Kelly (Maybedog), Minister of Illicit Reading
(last edited Jul 22, 2025 01:34AM)
(new)
Mod
• 19 minutes by Jodi Picoult — brief reference to date rape, word "erection"
• A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas— sexually explicit
• All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson — LGBTQIA+ content, sexually explicit
• Bone by Jeff Smith — Depictions of smoking, drinking, and gambling
• Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel and Melissa Sweet — Political/Ideological Concerns
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams — LGBTQIA+ content, language
• Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee — LGBTQIA+ content
• Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe — LGBTQIA+ content, sexually explict
• Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss — violence upon parents
• Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story — positive portrayal of Islam
• Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson — LGBTQIA+ content, incarcerated parent, CRT (Critical Race Theory)
• Mommy Laid An Egg: Or, Where Do Babies Come From? — illustrations of human reproduction
• My Ántonia by Willa Cather — racist language and portrayals
• No, David! by David Shannon — Naked child
• Not Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett — "Unsuitable topics"
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck — language, racism, violence, controversial themes
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble — magic, policemen depicted as pigs
• The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater — LGBTQIA+ content, criticism of criminal justice system
• The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil — diversity
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison — sexually explicit, graphic depictions of child sexual abuse, themes of racism, incest and rape
• The Family Book by Todd Par — diverse family structures, LGBTQIA+ content
• The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare — Anti-semitic
• The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy — LGBTQIA+ content,
• The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi — Marxist caused by CRT, devisive, racist **
• Twelfth Night by Shakespeare — alternative lifestyles
• Worm Loves Worm — LGBTQIA+ content
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
If you want some more recent novels with adults as the MC, I'd go with Salem Falls and Plain Truth, just because I know those are more focused on the adults in the story.I also love Ellen Hopkins' books! (Identical mentioned above), she mostly writes for teens, but her book Triangles is definitely for adults and has been banned. I think there's a companion book that follows the teens of the story. But Triangles is very spicy! (and I don't mind spice in my books, but whoa!)
I found this list of banned picture books: https://discover.bklynlibrary.org/?bo..., it's where I found Those Shoes and Not Norman: A Goldfish Story. I dug out Not Norman last night and read it twice trying to find something objectionable about it and could not. "Unsuitable topics"?? What the heck....
Finally, I don't know where to put things that might get more attention. Perhaps an email that we're looking for some ideas for group reads and the 4 categories that we're thinking about? And link it to this thread?
message 128:
by
Manybooks, Minister of Forbidden Literature
(last edited Jul 22, 2025 07:19AM)
(new)
Mod
Oops, my mistake about Hop On Pop being banned. 😱
Mod
It being challenged was bad enough.
Mod
Yes two moms and spin-off to The Fletcher Family. The Fletcher Family was under review un Duval County, Florida. I can't keep up but according the "don't say gay" I assume these are banned.
This Would Make a Good Story Someday challenged at the Samuels Public Library in Virginia. As in "remove these small number of LGBTQ+ books or get defunded." The library chose NOT to ban books and hung on for a year but is still in trouble.
My list of MG and YA banned and challenged books. I have books that don't appear on the lists. If someone objects somewhere, I include it.
All the picture book suggestions are great. My cousin and family enjoyed The Family Book. I LOLd at "Some people look like their dogs" page. It doesn't actually say some kids have two same sex parents because those parents are a couple. It only says some kids have two moms or two dads. Not why. My sister is divorced. Her kids have dad, step dad and his adult son helped out a lot when the kids were younger.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Mod
Mod
https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.s...
I've read almost all of the K-6 books and they're all great!
So are we going to have a poll, Kelly? Or some other way of picking some group reads?
Mod
No worries, Kelly! Take your time.
Mod
Mod
How horrible!! Can the landlord not get he evicted? She obviously needs help, but not at the expense of your own health and safety.
Mod
Oh Kelly, I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. I used to work in mental health housing, it is tough- both the mental health issues and the eviction issues. I hope you get some peace soon! ❤️
Mod
message 143:
by
Kelly (Maybedog), Minister of Illicit Reading
(last edited Sep 19, 2025 04:32AM)
(new)
Mod
She called the mental health emergency services on me saying I was in crisis. I was asleep and hadn't even seen her in a couple of days! When they left they said off the record that the person who answered the door (her) seemed far more mentally in crisis than I did. She admitted to a third party that she called them because she was worried I would call them on her. Like it was mutually exclusive. But she doesn't qualify because she's not threatening self harm.
Mod
Wow, if they thought she was in crisis and more in crisis than you (and had actually called to report you for no legitimate reason) they should have gathered her up and taken her away to the hospital. I mean why would she only qualify if she is threatening to harm herself or others?
Mod
You're allowed to be "crazy" (colloquially) or in crisis. They can only take you in against your will if you are threatening (or behaving in such a way that would unintentionally cause) harm. (I once had a client who was ever so cheerfully sitting in the middle of the road playing a drum. She didn't intend to hurt herself or anyone else, but she lacked the insight to know that sitting in the middle of the road is not a good idea!)It's actually similar to the hate speech conversations happening right now in the US. I find what you're saying horrible and offensive, but you still have the right to say it. With the mentally ill, I find your behavior horrible and offensive, and it's disturbing my peace, but you still have the right to be that way. Otherwise, in both cases, we run the risk of someone unilaterally deciding what people are allowed to do before hauling them off against their will. That said, it sucks sometimes. Those around people like that can see they need help, but if they don't want it, there's not much anyone can do.
Kelly, I've had a few people with those combinations of behaviors and it is miserable. Stick to your boundaries HARD. And for the eviction process, document the heck out of anything she's doing that violates the lease. See if you can get a copy of the mental health crisis people's report saying you weren't in crisis (that's disturbing the peace and comfort of other tenants), things like that.
Mod
Mod
Trump moves to scrub national parks sites of signs that cast America in a 'negative light'
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/17/nx-s1-...
'Scourged Back’ exposed the horror of slavery. Now it’s embroiled in America’s censorship debate
...
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that officials at an unidentified national park had ordered that the photo be taken down, along with other signs and exhibits related to slavery. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper described the move as being in line with an executive order Trump issued in March directing the US Interior Department to do away with content that disparages “Americans past or living.”
The department, which oversees the National Park Service, has since denied the report. Spokesperson Elizabeth Peace told CNN via email that sites were not asked to remove the photo. She added: “If any interpretive materials are found to have been removed or altered prematurely or in error, the Department will review the circumstances and take corrective action as appropriate.”
By then, however, the story had already sparked concern among artists, activists and curators. The National Parks Conservation Association was among those voicing disapproval, with senior director of cultural resources Alan Spears saying that removing the photo would be “as shameful as it is wrong.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/18/style/...
Mod
Taliban ban books written by women from Afghan universities
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0k...
Mod
Banned Books
Books mentioned in this topic
This Would Make a Good Story Someday (other topics)Hop On Pop (other topics)
Those Shoes (other topics)
Plain Truth (other topics)
Salem Falls (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jodi Picoult (other topics)Heather Cox Richardson (other topics)
Sarah Orne Jewett (other topics)
Toni Morrison (other topics)
Sarah J. Maas (other topics)
Wonderful! My nephew was so happy with Max the Mighty he gave me a hug and thanked me for the book, even though I also gave him a book about a Roblox player and a giant gummy candy video game controller. It's always a win when you find that ONE book that connects with that ONE reader!