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Banned Book Celebration
Oct. 1- Oct. 10, 2021
What is Banned Book Celebration all about?
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
This year's theme is "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us." Sharing stories important to us means sharing a part of ourselves. Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, creates barriers.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.
Frequently Challenged Books
Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity
Thirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
Reasons: banned, challenged, and restricted for addressing teen suicide
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
Reasons: Challenged for profanity, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
Reasons: offensive language, racism, violence
Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint, violence