Banned Books

Books are banned and censored for many reasons -- language, themes, anti-religious content, content seen as immoral, etc. For whatever reasons a book is banned, it's interesting to see which books make the lists of most popularly banned books. Many of these books are considered great works of art and the highest form of literature by the academic and arts community at large. Some of them are much less well-known.

In the educational setting, controversy provides a particularly useful launching off point for discussion of ethics and morality, discussions about censorship, and discussions of the themes that are contentious.

Learn more about Banned Books from the American Library Association's website devoted to them. In fact, there is a Banned Books Week in September.

View the list of most frequently banned books from 2000-2007 (PDF)

We welcome your discussion as to particular books you think don't belong on the list, books you were surprised to not see on the list, or anything else related to banned books.

Read the Rest of the AVKO Blog | Visit the AVKO Website