It’s that time of year again when the American Library Association gets together and celebrates the books that were banned over the last year.
This is the 31st year of celebrating the reasons people think banning a book is okay. 
Here is the top 10 most banned books in 2012 according to the Office for Intellectual Freedom:
- Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group - Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.
Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group - Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit - And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group - The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit - Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group - Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence - The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit - Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence
In a panel Sunday morning at the Brooklyn Book Festival, frequently banned young adult author David Levithan told the group sitting in front of him that for ever group attempting to ban a book, there is a community of readers that back the book and fight for it to stay on the shelves.
Most libraries and bookstores around the country are celebrating Banned Books Week in their own special ways, so make sure you check out your local and support their efforts to keep all kinds of books on the shelves.
Because reading, even if its a view point you don’t agree with or understand, is ALWAYS important.
Keep reading!
Related articles
- Banned Books Week (katyupperman.com)
- Banned Books Week 2013 (Photos) (examiner.com)
- Banned Books Week 2013 (travelbetweenthepages.com)
- Happy Banned Book Week !!!! (lifebetweenfiction.wordpress.com)
- It’s BANNED BOOKS WEEK! See who made this venerated list this year… (deenar116.wordpress.com)
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