Banned Books Central List

As many of you already know, I have a real thing for banned books. Specifically, I like to read them and explain why they shouldn’t be banned.

Although recent book banning has focused on targeting marginalized groups, especially the LGBTQIA and black communities, there’s a long history of censorship that stretches back throughout human history, has affected every group, and been perpetrated by every group.

I’m currently working on a video series in which I read and discuss banned books. As I update that series, I’ll indicate which books I’ve read and which books I plan to read here. Note: I source my banned books from lists compiled by the GOATs on this subject, the American Library Association and PEN America.

Banned Books I’ve Read for the Series

• Gender Queer: A Memoir, Maia Kobabe, Graphic Memoir; watch on Instagram, TikTok, & YouTube

• Flamer, Mike Curato, YA Graphic Novel; watch on Instagram, TikTok, & YouTube

• Sold, Patricia McCormick, YA Fiction (verse novel); video coming soon.

Additional Banned Books (unranked and unsorted)

• The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison, Literary Fiction

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky, YA Fiction

• Looking for Alaska, John Green, YA Fiction

• All Boys Aren't Blue, George M. Johnson, Memoir/Essays

• Tricks, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jesse Andrews, YA Fiction

• Crank, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult, Fiction/Thriller

• Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher, YA Fiction

• The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, Dystopian Fiction

• Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen, Historical Fiction

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie, YA Fiction

• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, Literary Fiction

• A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas, Fantasy/Romance

• Identical, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Out of Darkness, Ashley Hope Pérez, YA Historical Fiction

• A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J. Maas, Fantasy/Romance

• The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas, YA Fiction

• A Court of Frost and Starlight, Sarah J. Maas, Fantasy/Romance

• Lucky, Alice Sebold, Memoir

• Tilt, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Beloved, Toni Morrison, Literary Fiction

• Living Dead Girl, Elizabeth Scott, YA Fiction

• Forever…, Judy Blume, YA Fiction

• Damsel, Elana K. Arnold, YA Fantasy

• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Erika L. Sánchez, YA Fiction

• Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo, YA Historical Fiction

• Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson, YA Fiction

• Breathless, Jennifer Niven, YA Romance

• The Color Purple, Alice Walker, Literary Fiction

• Monday's Not Coming, Tiffany D. Jackson, YA Mystery/Thriller

• The Haters, Jesse Andrews, YA Fiction

• Beyond Magenta, Susan Kuklin, YA Nonfiction

• Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur, Poetry

• Perfect, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Fallout, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut, Literary Fiction/Satire

• What Girls Are Made Of, Elana K. Arnold, YA Fiction

• Drama: A Graphic Novel, Raina Telgemeier, Middle Grade Graphic Novel

• The Carnival at Bray, Jessie Ann Foley, YA Fiction

• Wicked, Gregory Maguire, Fantasy

• Impulse, Ellen Hopkins, YA Fiction (verse novel)

• Shine, Lauren Myracle, YA Mystery

• The Sun and Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur, Poetry

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, Autobiography

• A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, Dystopian Fiction/Satire

• The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend, Kody Keplinger, YA Fiction

• Storm and Fury, Jennifer L. Armentrout, YA Fantasy/Romance