Grapes of Wrath has faced numerous challenges and bans since it's initial publication. Many complaints were aimed at how the novel depicts the agriculture industry and it's treatment of migrants after the Depression. One of the most highly publicized bans happened in Kern County, California, where, despite no complaints being registered at the local library, a group called the Associated Farmers successfully banned the book. This ban is considered one of the catalysts for the creation of the first Library Bill of Rights.2

“When the ban was announced, the most common reaction in Kern County was one of disbelief. Within days, the county librarian, the rural press, local unions, and the 600 readers who already had reserved the book at the library joined in an effort to rescind the ban. During the course of the long controversy that ensued, public debate often focused on the validity of Steinbeck's representation of the migrants and his frank description of the misery of their lives. But as events unfolded in Kern, it became clear that the course of this seemingly local battle was influenced by larger corporate agricultural interests who were determined to stave off any challenge to their control of agricultural working conditions”3 

1Steinbeck, John. The grapes of wrath: 75th anniversary edition. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) LLC : Viking, 2014.

2"First Library Bill of Rights?", American Library Association, March 1, 2010 https://www.ala.org/tools/first-library-bill-rights (Accessed September 16, 2025) Document ID: 8a4b2914-a42d-ce64-059e-d93fbde442e2

3 Kappel, Tim. “Trampling out the Vineyards: Kern County’s Ban on the Grapes of Wrath.” California History 61, no. 3 (1982): 210–21. https://doi.org/10.2307/25158112.