The theme of this year’s Banned Books Week celebration, which is taking place September 23–29, is “Banning Books Silences Stories. Speak Out!” In an effort to get the word out about censorship, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom has unveiled its list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2017.
Among the 416 books that were reported as being challenged or banned within the previous year, the following titles—many of which were published in the last decade—are in the top 10:
1.Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Razorbill, 2007)
2.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown, 2007)
3. Drama by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix, 2012)
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead, 2003)
5. George by Alex Gino (Scholastic Press, 2015)
6. Sex Is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, illus. by Fiona Smyth (Triangle Square, 2015)
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Lippincott, 1964)
8. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, 2017)
9. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, illus. by Henry Cole (Simon & Schuster, 2005)
10. I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, and illus. by Shelagh McNicholas (Dial, 2014)
The OIF notes that this list represents “a snapshot of censorship,” as roughly 82–97% of book challenges are unreported.
