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Banned Books: A Reading List: Home

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Credit: BPL News & Information, Banned Books – A History

Introductory Articles

Introductory Works

Book Banning in 21st-Century America by Emily J. M. Knox
Call Number: EBook. Click title to read.

Publication Date: 2015
Democratic Education by Amy Gutmann
Call Number: EBook. Click title to read.

Publication Date: 1999
Speaking Up by Anne Proffitt Dupre
Call Number: KF4124.5 .D87 2009, Law

Publication Date: 2009
This Book Is Banned by Raj Haldar; Julia Patton (Illustrator)
Call Number: Z657 .H16 2023, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2023

Authors Speak Out (Video)

The ABCs of Book Banning Trailer (Video)

End

Need Help?

If at any time you need help with using Gumberg Library resources, please contact Ted Bergfelt, Humanities Librarian, via email or by phone at 412-396-5351, 8:30 am-4:30 pm ET, Monday-Friday. If he is not available, Ask Gumberg

This research guide was created by Emma Cowan, English Department Intern, Gumberg Library, March 2025.

2025 Top Banned Books Avaiiable at Gumberg

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Call Number: PS3566 .I372 N56 2008X, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2008

98 bans.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Call Number: PZ7.G8233 Lo 2012x, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2006

97 bans.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Call Number: PS3553.H3469 P47 1999, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 1999

85 bans.
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Call Number: PZ7.5 .M43 SOL 2008X, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2008

85 bans.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Call Number: PZ7 .A8155 Th 2007, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2007

76 bans.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Call Number: PZ7.5 .H67 CRANK BK.1, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2013

76 bans.
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
Call Number: PZ7.5 .H67 IDE 2010X, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2010

74 bans.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Call Number: PS3608 .O832 K58 2004X, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 2004

73 bans.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Call Number: PR9199.3 .A8 H3 1998, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 1998

67 bans.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Call Number: PS3607.R696 W38 2011x, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 2011

66 bans.
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Call Number: PZ7.M111575 Cou 2021, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 2021

<50 bans.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner) by Sherman Alexie
Call Number: PZ7.A382 Ab 2009x, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2009

<50 bans.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Call Number: PS3563 .O8749 B55 1994, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 1994

<50 bans.

Further Information

Most Banned and Challenged Books of the Past 100 Years

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Call Number: PS3537.A426 C3 2010x, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2001
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Call Number: PR6052 .U638 C5 1986X, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 1995
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck; Robert DeMott (Introduction by, Notes by)
Call Number: PS3537 .T3234 G8 2006X, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 2006
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Call Number: PS3511 .I9 G7 2004X, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 2004
The Hate U Give Collector's Edition by Angie Thomas; Amandla Stenberg (Foreword by)
Call Number: PZ7.1.T448 Hat 2018x, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2018
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Call Number: PS3551.N464 Z466 2015x, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2009
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck; Susan Shillinglaw (Introduction by)
Call Number: PS3537.T3234 O2 1994, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 1994
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Call Number: PZ7.A54385 Sp 2011x, 5th Floor

Publication Date: 2011
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Call Number: PS3562.E353 T6 2006x, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 2006
Toni Morrison, Beloved by Carl Plasa
Call Number: PS3563.O8749 B436 1998, 2nd Floor

Publication Date: 1999