The Top Ten Books Banned in the United States

The past couple of years have felt like a dystopian novel coming to life as book banning and book censorship have seen a huge increase. And we have data that shows the most banned books of 2023. Keep reading to find out which books have seen the most challenges in 2023!

As the book banning week comes to an end (Sep 22 – Sep 28), the American Library Association (ALA) released a list of the most challenged books in the United States. And the data doesn’t look good.

In 2023, pressure groups focused on public libraries and school libraries and had some success. That led to an increase of 92% over the previous year of books targeted for censorship at public libraries. That is a huge increase from the 11% increase from the previous year.

A total of 4,240 unique book titled were targeted for censorship in 2023 according to the ALA. And the censorship didn’t there because as there were 1.,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources. Books about and written by LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC saw a lot of censorship as they made up 47 of the total censorship attempts.

The ALA did not hold back and made sure to list all 17 cities that had over a 100 attempts of censorship such as Florida, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. You can see the full list of the top ten books that were censored in 2023 below.

The Top Ten Books Banned in the United States

• 1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
• Number of challenges: 106
• Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
• 2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
• Number of challenges: 82
• Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
• 3. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
• Number of challenges: 71
• Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
• 4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• Number of challenges: 68
• Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, rape, drugs, profanity
• 5. Flamer by Mike Curato
• Number of challenges: 67
• Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
• 6. The Bluest Eye by Toni MorrisonNumber of challenges: 62
• Challenged for: rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content
• 7/8. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
• Number of challenges: 56
• Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
• 7/8. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
• Number of challenges: 56
• Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQIA+ content
• 9. Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
• Number of challenges: 55
• Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQIA+ content
• 10. Sold by Patricia McCormick
• Number of challenges: 53
• Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, rape

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook