A graphic-novel memoir about gender identity. A collection of personal essays by a queer Black activist. Toni Morrison’s first novel.
These books were among the most-challenged titles in U.S. libraries in 2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association.
The attempts to ban “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson and “The Bluest Eye” by Morrison were part of a growing trend across the U.S. There were 1,269 efforts to censor books and other resources in libraries in 2022, according to the libraries group. That figure is nearly double the year before and marks a record for a single year. The association has been tracking these trends for more than two decades.
More than 2,500 individual titles fell under scrutiny in 2022, the majority of which focused on or were written by LGBT individuals and people of color.
The efforts have reached communities across the U.S. Voters in a rural western Michigan town defunded a library over a dispute related to LGBT content. A Texas county considered closing its public libraries after a federal judge ordered more than a dozen recently removed books to be returned to shelves.
Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, president of the American Library Association, said creating a list of the most-challenged books in 2022 could help identify the communities, stories and subjects most often targeted by book-banning campaigns. The group said common reasons for attempting to censor these books included allegations they were sexually explicit or included LGBT content and profanity.
The organization has said the uptick in challenges is fueled by groups targeting books they say don’t align with their views.
“They’re picking out particular passages that are often traumatic events in the journey of these characters to be able to push their own agendas to silence and erase these voices from our society,” Ms. Pelayo-Lozada said.
Elected officials, parents and conservative groups including Moms for Liberty say they are advocating for the removal of these books and others because the titles are inappropriate for children and students. The push has also followed directives and legislation from state leaders.
A number of the most challenged titles in 2022 overlapped with those on the American Library Association’s list from 2021. The list also aligns with recent reports from PEN America, a literary and advocacy group.
Here are the top 13 most-challenged books in 2022, according to the American Library Association:
1. “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe
2. “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson
3. “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison
4. “Flamer,” by Mike Curato
5. (tie) “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green
5. (tie) “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
7. “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison
8. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie
9. “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Pérez
10. (tie) “A Court of Mist and Fury,” by Sarah J. Maas
10. (tie) “Crank,” by Ellen Hopkins
10. (tie) “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” by Jesse Andrews
10. (tie) “This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson
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