Why Were These Books Banned? Fahrenheit 451 by: Ray Bradbury Banned for being  "dangerous", this book is set in the future, when all books are banned and people called 'firemen' enforce the laws against them. 451 degrees is the temperature that paper catches fire. <-- Back to Banned List   Huckleberry Finn by: Mark Twain In highly publicized incidents, this book has been banned as recently as 2001 for "racial depictions". <-- Back to Banned List   To Kill a Mockingbird by: Harper Lee Banned as recently as August 2001, in Oklahoma for "racially charged language." <-- Back to Banned List   James and the Giant Peach by: Roald Dahl A frequently banned author, this book was banned in a Florida elementary school because "it promotes the use of drugs, tobacco, and whiskey." <-- Back to Banned List   Les Misérables by: Victor Hugo Banned in Spain in 1964 by Pope Pious IX because "family relations are nonexistent." <-- Back to Banned List   Of Mice and Men by: John Steinbeck Second most banned book in the U. S. in the 1990s. Banned for "racist language" in Florida and "vulgar language throughout" and "profanity" in Georgia. <-- Back to Banned List   In the Night Kitchen by: Maurice Sendak This children's picture book has been repeatedly banned because of "nudity". <-- Back to Banned List   Lord of the Flies by: William Golding Banned in Nebraska after a reader claimed that this book was "demoralizing inasmuch that it implies that man is little more than an animal." <-- Back to Banned List   The Lorax by: Dr. Seuss Banned in the Laytonville, California School District on grounds that this book "criminalizes the forestry industry." <-- Back to Banned List   Leaves of Grass by: Walt Whitman Banned in Boston in 1881 for "explicit language". <-- Back to Banned List   Snow Falling on Cedars by: David Guterson Banned from several high schools in the state of Washington, where the novel is set, because of "sexual content" and "offensive language". <-- Back to Banned List   The Chocolate War by: Robert Cormier The 5th most challenged book in the U. S. in the 1990s, banned for teenagers because of "sexual innuendoes, profanity and violence." <-- Back to Banned List   The Qur'an (The Koran) This holy book of the Islamic religion was removed from numerous libraries and banned from import into the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1956. <-- Back to Banned List   A Wrinkle in Time by: Madeline L'Engle L'Engle is one of the 1990's most-challenged children's authors. This book was banned because it "challenges religious beliefs". <-- Back to Banned List   Uncle Tom's Cabin by: Harriet Beecher Stowe Banned during the 19th century in much of the south for its depiction of slavery, this book has more recently been banned for "racism" in other parts of the country. <-- Back to Banned List   The Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster Banned for being "inappropriate for the age group" in an elementary school. <-- Back to Banned List   One Hundred Years of Solitude by: Gabriel García Márquez Considered by many to have reinvented the novel in the 20th century, this book was banned and labeled "garbage being passed off as literature" <-- Back to Banned List   Harry Potter by: J. K. Rowling All four Harry Potter books have been banned for their depictions of "magic, sorcery, wizardry, witchcraft, Satanism, occult, and sheer evil". <-- Back to Banned List   Sophie's Choice by: William Styron This book about Jews in World War II was considered "disturbing" and was banned from several libraries. <-- Back to Banned List   Frankenstein by: Mary Shelley Banned for being "indecent, objectionable, or obscene." <-- Back to Banned List   Black Beauty by: Anna Sewell Banned in South Africa in 1955 because of the title, even though the book is about a horse. <-- Back to Banned List   The Joy Luck Club by: Amy Tan Published in 1990, this book was banned because it "conflicted with the values of the community." <-- Back to Banned List   The Color Purple by: Alice Walker Banned from high schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the 1990s as "X-rated smut". <-- Back to Banned List   The Catcher in the Rye by: J. D. Salinger Banned because of "profanity, reference to suicide, vulgarity, disrespect, and anti-Christian sentiments" in 1991. <-- Back to Banned List   The Giver by: Lois Lowry A Newbery Award winner, this book was banned for "sexually explicit and occult themes, violence, and references to euthanasia." <-- Back to Banned List   The Bridge to Terabithia by: Katherine Paterson Another Newbery Award winner, banned because of "anti-religion, language, and discussion of death." <-- Back to Banned List   Little House in the Big Woods by: Laura Ingalls Wilder Banned for being "racially offensive". <-- Back to Banned List   Gone With the Wind by: Margaret Mitchell Banned in Anaheim, California English classes in 1984 for "racially charged language." <-- Back to Banned List   I Know Why the Caged Bird by: Maya Angelou This auto-biographical work has been banned because of descriptions of a childhood rape. <-- Back to Banned List   The Scarlet Letter by: Nathaniel Hawthorne Banned by Tsar Nicholas I in Russia in 1852 and in U. S. schools in the 1990s for "conflicting with the values of the community". <-- Back to Banned List   Beloved by: Toni Morrison This Nobel Prize winning author's book about slavery was banned for being "too violent." <-- Back to Banned List   The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm Banned in classrooms below the 6th grade in Arizona in 1994, due to "excessive violence, negative portrayals of female characters, and anti-Semitic references." <-- Back to Banned List   A Raisin in the Sun by: Lorraine Hansberry Banned in Ogden, Utah in 1979, after a complaint by an anti-pornography organization. <-- Back to Banned List   House of Spirits by: Isabelle Allende Banned for being "obscene". <-- Back to Banned List   A Separate Peace by: John Knowles Banned for "graphic language". <-- Back to Banned List   The Bible The holy book of Christianity, it was claimed in Minnesota that its "lewd, indecent and violent contents are hardly suitable for young students." <-- Back to Banned List

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