Banned books are a frequent topic of conversation right now. Many schools around the United States are banning or challenging books taught in many grades’ curricula for many reasons including inappropriate content and depictions of controversial issues. Even classic novels like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which have been required reading in many school districts, have been flagged for their subject matter.
PlaygroundEquipment.com visualized the books that have received the most challenges and bans in the United States according to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. These are the most banned and challenged books of 2020:
- George by Alex Gino
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
There are also many classics that made the list of most banned/challenged books of all time:
- 1984 by George Orwell
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Do you agree with the reasons these books were banned?
