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American Library Association (ALA), “Forty Years of Banned Books Week” by Priscilla Wu, “My Life in Book Banning” by Jonathan Evison, Banned Books Week 2022, Poets & Writers Magazine September/October 2022, Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists 2001-2021
Photo Credit: Banned Books Week
Until recently, I have paid little attention to parents protesting about books they would like to remove from the shelves of their school and public libraries, alleging moral corruption of their children. Since I don’t enjoy the privilege of seeing my novels on the shelves of libraries, I had no cause for concern. Then, the article “Forty Years of Banned Books Week” by Priscilla Wu, published in the September/October 2022 issue of the Poets & Writers Magazine, grabbed my attention.
It turns out that book challenges for the eight months into 2022 is set to exceed last year’s alarming record, according to a press release on September 16 from the American Library Association (ALA) ahead of Banned Books Week (September 18-24, 2022). ALA documented 681 attempts to ban or restrict library books and targeted 1,651 unique book titles. Compare these numbers to the year 2021 when 729 attempts of censorship targeted 1,597 books, then the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling these lists more than 20 years ago.
“The unprecedented number of challenges we’re seeing already this year reflects coordinated, national efforts to silence marginalized or historically underrepresented voices and deprive all of us—young people, in particular—of the chance to explore a world beyond the confines of personal experience,” said ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada.
You can find lists of the “Top 10 Most Challenged Books 2001-2021” on the ALA website.
In a post-truth world, it’s not surprising that there are those who seek to smother marginalized voices. What’s frightening is that some of these truth-silencers are prepared to use violence to achieve their goals. Jonathan Evison, author of Lawn Boy: A Novel, one of last year’s most challenged books, has had to confront a campaign of threats, cyber-attacks, and doxing. He shares his experience in the article “My Life in Book Banning.” He has been labeled as a pedophile for “promoting” sex between fourth graders. It mattered not that his adult novel was never intended for elementary or middle-grade readers.
As often happens with banned books, Lawn Boy was catapulted into the spotlight. “The boost in sales from this controversy has resulted in three additional printings of the novel since September 2021,” notes Evison in his article. “In fact, the book’s publisher, Algonquin, has had trouble keeping up with demand.”
I would not like to experience what Evison has gone through. Yet, it’s a risk I must take as a storyteller who seeks to spotlight the ills of society that contort our lives. Now, I’ve got to get more pro-active in placing my books in public libraries interested in Caribbean stories. Are my self-published novels worthy of inclusion on their bookshelves? I won’t know until I try.
Three Worlds One Vision 
Thank you very much, Rosaliene, for having me made aware of the problem of banned books and their authors and I wish you all the best in trying to find out more! All the best:)
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You’re welcome, Martina. Thanks for your support 🙂
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Thank you for this important blog post! I’ve been amazed for a long time that there hasn’t been any significant outcry about this. Alarm bells should have been ringing for years. I particularly miss the outcry from the scholarly world and that gives a deep insight. When I pointed out this trend a few years ago, I was told I tended to exaggerate.
Much could be said about it, and it is a development worse than most can imagine. (What does it say about a society that banishes its books – and then maybe burns them next)?
One phrase in your article (I know he’s not to be taken 100% seriously) is the term “post-truth world” because it implies there was a “truth-world” before. And that was never the case. But that would be a long story…
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Friedrich, thanks so much for adding your thoughts on this issue. I must confess that, until now, I’ve paid little attention to this dangerous trend. You’re also right when you mention that the scholarly world has also been silent about this issue.
Tom Engelhardt at TomDispatch raises alarm and concern about the disappearance of progressive publishing houses as they are bought out by the major publishing conglomerates. He notes that there are now only three progressive publishers left: Dispatch Books, The New Press, and Haymarket Books.
You can read his article “Burning Books (or Rather Book Companies)” published on September 27, 2022, at the following link: https://tomdispatch.com/burning-books-or-rather-book-companies/
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As a non-American, I shy away from speaking out on domestic American issues. On the other hand, things like censorship have an impact on other countries since we live in a globalized world.
From my point of view, this is not about the censorship of a few uncomfortable books. Narrativa play a crucial role in the USA (show mentality), and there is a risk that the narrative “American dream” will become an “American bubble”.
It doesn’t help then to start a war somewhere to “install peace and democracy”. If the population no longer believes in the State narratives, things get serious (Europe, fall of the wall….). The JFK files, which should have been released, other sensitive historical material to be presented to the public, the excessive blacking out of documents overall, NSA…..It has becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the narrative mentioned. An economic recession is fueling the situation. And there is still a lot to say….
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Friedrich, thanks for making the point that we live in a globalized world, so that what happens in the USA can impact other countries. The narrative driving book banning does, indeed, go far beyond censoring of books.
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Important, sobering post, Rosaliene. And, yes, politicians and other people and entities on the right are most guilty of the book-banning impulse. They prefer readers and potential readers to be less educated and less tolerant. 😦
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Dave, in that way, they will be better able to control the masses 😦
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Exactly! 😦
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The idea of book banning is one step closer to negating all the rest of our rights and freedoms.
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So true, and scary, GP.
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Extremists aren’t called “extremists” for nothing. They are so-called because they will go to practically any lengths (including censorship) to impose their standards and beliefs on everyone. What could be more ignorant than banning books because you don’t have the intelligence and/or education to understand that book-banning is the hallmark of oppressive reigns. This is America, not Nazi Germany or a country in the grip of religious fanatics or third-world dictators.
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Mister Muse, I don’t think that we should dismiss the possibility that America could return to the Dark Ages. After all, we women have recently lost our right to bodily autonomy, after centuries of struggle.
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Agreed. It wasn’t my intention to dismiss it, but to try to make the point that America SHOULD be above what right-wing extremists are trying to make it.
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Thanks for the clarification, Mister Muse.
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Thank you for addressing this topic of discussion, Rosaliene. Truly this has placed a choke-hold on learning and seeing from different perspectives and cultures in society. To intentionally stifle voices and trust me I truly understand what that feels like, and many of us have felt the effects of that as well, takes the focus away from those trying to slay different voices, and takes the attention off of their fears about certain topics. Like forbidden fruit, people are curious and want to know why so much attention is spotlighted on such a topic as book banning. Great discussion. 📕📚📗
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Glad you like the discussion, Kym. I share your view that banning books prevents us from understanding the different perspectives and cultures in society. Forcing a dominant narrative on a diverse population, nationally and worldwide, sets us up for disaster. It’s little wonder that humanity now faces so many existential threats: ecological collapse, climate chaos, nuclear war, and more.
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Girl Rosaliene, SPEAK honey! Now that is a drop-the-mic group of phenomenal thoughts! 🎤🎤🎤 I agree with you my friend! 🤗🦋🥰
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Censorship occurs throughout history and in all cultures that use language at all. The writer must censor him/herself to avoid writing personal truth that offends others or reveals vulnerable personal details.
Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” (1953) fictionalized the extreme dangers of censorship, in which firemen were tasked with burning books, among other things, to restrict people’s opportunities to explore perspectives outside the official narratives.
Writers set themselves up for scrutiny. In a severely judgmental world, such as the one we have created, authors must develop thick skins to convey meaning without becoming too bland. Consistency inspires trust and readership. There will always be those who find thoughts of relevance to them, whether they like or dislike what they read.
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Katharine, you’re right when you say that scrutiny is part of being a writer/author, especially for those who achieve some amount of success. By the time one’s book is finally published, we’ve already had to develop a thick skin to deal with rejections from agents and publishers.
May the dystopian future depicted in Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” never come to pass. As an avid reader, I cannot conceive of a world without books.
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I thrive on books, and print media. Hard copy. Electronic media can’t compare, although it has a crucial niche in today’s world. However, electronic information is vulnerable, more than paper, to floods and fire, and it requires gadgets like televisions and computers to make it understandable.
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Just reading the subject line “Banned Books” makes my blood boil. Banned books are censorship, it declares us unfit for thinking on our own. It shows the weakness of the ones who ban the books, because they fear we might like what we read, or we might get thought-provoking input.
I knew America was in trouble before, but when I read that “Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” is now on the banned book list as well as “About Mice and Men” one was deeply saddened.
We should never ban history, it’s part of who we are. How can we change and grow, if we don’t know?
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Bridget, I was quite shocked to see the Top Ten Most Challenged Books 2001-2021. My favorite book “Beloved” by Toni Morrison has also featured on the list several times.
I agree that we should never ban history for the reasons you’ve given. Can we even ban history when it’s also passed down verbally from generation to generation?
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As you know, Rosaliene, the German poet Heinrich Heine’s 1822 statement was prophetic: “Where they burn books they will, in the end, burn human beings, too.”
Ray Bradbury’s book “Fahrenheit 451” became a movie. The setting is a place where fireman don’t put fires out, but burn books instead.
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Dr. Stein, thanks for the reminder about the book/movie “Fahrenheit 451.” I saw the 2018 movie: Quite a bleak future. There was also the 2013 movie “The Book Thief” that’s set during the Nazi book-burning era. Knowledge is power that must be taken from the people in order to better control them.
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It’s hard to believe (actually, it isn’t hard) that the world contains so many people determined to do away with liberties, freedom, open thoughts. It makes me sick. The battles against them are never-ending.
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Neil, I’m sighing at your last remark 😦 It sometimes feels like, for every step forward we make, we are pushed back for two or three steps.
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What sad news
As often happens, banned books become famous, but the authors must also suffer a lot of criticism and wrongs
Unfortunately, censorship sometimes also becomes a political weapon
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Luisa, censorship as a political weapon is also at play here.
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So sad…
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Hi Rosalie
I have never paid any attention or expressed any thoughts on the banning of books, but this is my insufficiently informed view.
I do agree that there should be some form of restrictions on “the freedom of expression”
No one likes their personal freedom to be curtailed.
But we have to acknowledge that in extreme cases it can adversely affect our social and political structure and inflict personal pain and suffering on a person or persons.
Therefore there has to be some form of regulation. But how can we do this with impartiality? That’s the problem.
In conclusion I would accept the banning of some books, social media, written and verbal expressions if we can prove beyond a doubt that they cause disruption in our society.
However, we have to find a just way to do this.
Royden V Chan
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Royden, thanks for reading and adding your comments. In the case of the top ten most challenged books in 2021, the reasons cited include: LGBTQIA+ content, sexually explicit scenes, sexual education, child sexual abuse, depictions of abuse, violence, degrading to women, and profanity. Except for the LGBTQIA+ content, these topics have been depicted in adult novels since the first novels were published.
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Brava for posting this! I always love to see these posts, as well as bookstores that have sections for banned books!
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Thanks very much, Tamara! I was not aware that some bookstores carry a banned books section. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been buying my books online.
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Mostly the small independent book stores do.
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Many books that got banned during the apartheid era in South Africa, were unbanned after apartheid ended. So the idea was to block the country from knowing the truth. How selfish!
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AWV, thanks for sharing your experience in South Africa. It was much more than selfish. It was devious behavior.
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I have been appalled over the past two years at the efforts of some school boards and libraries to ban books, just as I am appalled by the efforts in some states to whitewash the history of this nation. The education of our young is, perhaps, the most important thing we can do and for it to be restricted is to deny our children the right to grow into knowledgeable, responsible adults capable of making this nation, this world, a better place. That seems to be the fear … certain religious groups and white supremacist groups do not want the next generation to be armed with the tools of truth and knowledge. This is one fight that is well worth fighting!
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Jill, thanks for dropping by and adding your comments 🙂 Whitewashing our nation’s history is, indeed, a disturbing development. How can we ever agree on any issue when there are different and conflicting versions of our shared history?
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Always my pleasure, Rosaliene! I haven’t been reading many blogs of late, for there are just never enough hours in the day, but yours is always a treat.
You’re so right … I envision a society 50 years from now where very few people even realize that there was slavery, Jim Crow, genocide of Indigenous Peoples and more because they were fed a sugar-coated diet of falsehoods and omissions.
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This is just such a frightening thing to me. And forgive my ignorance but isn’t banning books borderline unconstitutional in violation of the first amendment? I mean, not that our government actually honors the constitution anymore, but this one is a pretty big one to violate. As an artist, this is always so frightening to me to hear. It’s bonkers, Fascist, 1984 vibes that just scare me. Something I do love about this country however is the spirit of the people. People have always fought back and especially fought for voices to be heard. But at what cost? Sorry if my comments are dramatic today but yeah this one is scary. Thank you for sharing 🖤
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Libby, thanks for sharing your concerns about this issue. It’s one thing to determine that a particular book is inappropriate for certain age groups and should not be included in a school library. It’s another thing to attack the character and threaten the life of the author. That’s whats frightening to me as an author ❤
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Oh dear, please be safe, I’m so sorry you have to be put through this kind of fear. It takes such courage to create, doesn’t it? Sending you protective vibes that wrap you in a cocoon of care and safety 🖤💖🙏
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Libby, I appreciate your concern for my safety. My novels are not available in any library, as far as I know, so they’re not subject to any challenge.
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It may be because I’m in Merrye Englande, but none of the links to the ALA seem to work.
For me, there is a big difference between banning a book because the author was a Jew (Hitler did this, for example) and banning a book because the author puts a different slant on things religious (The Satanic Verses). Personally, I don’t believe in censorship for either of these reasons.
Censorship to protect children is much more important, of course, and, in my opinion, parents need to be asked if they are OK with their offspring reading, say, “Lolita” or “Fanny Hill”.
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My apologies about the broken ALA links, John. I had no problem in accessing their website using Microsoft Edge, but encountered a problem when using the Firefox browser.
I agree that censorship is essential to protect children. As I mention in my comment to Dawn Pisturino, the challenge comes when dealing with adolescents (16-18 years old) in junior and senior high school.
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When it comes to children, they need to be protected, especially in our schools. Not all books are appropriate for school libraries, and as a parent, I agree with showing common sense when it comes to choosing appropriate books. Our public schools are no longer safe places, and parents need to have a say or take their kids out of the public school system. Otherwise, I am utterly opposed to censorship and book banning. Great books such as “Tom Sawyer,” “Huckleberry Finn,” and “To Kill the Mockingbird” have all been banned, and for very flimsy reasons.
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Dawn, I agree that our children need to be protected from reading books that are not intended or appropriate for their age group. The situation changes when, as parents and educators, we must determine what’s appropriate for our junior and senior high school students. The controversy over Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison first started during a high school board meeting in a Texas suburb and then went viral nationwide.
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I didn’t realize it was this bad. It’s scary that we are going backward in this regard. In my local library, we have a section for local authors, I had given a copy of my book to someone at the library several years ago, but it was not included, so I need to investigate and apply.
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Joanna, I also didn’t realize that it’s this bad. I’ve read today about another protest. On October 10 in Michigan, protestors shut down the Dearborn Public Schools board meeting over LGBTQ books in their school libraries. They had to call in the police to restore order.
I stopped using our local library several years ago, so I have no idea if they accept books from local indie-authors.
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💜
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This is a coordinated effort by the Right to move us back to the Fifties.
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Don, it sure does look that way 😦
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I don’t see how banning books helps anything at all if tv, movies, and gaming continue to expose kids to the same content, or worse. And politicians! They should be banned as well! 🌞
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Exactly, Lisa!
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Thank you for sharing!!.. I believe that book banning is an attempt by elements of today’s society to prevent change, and perhaps create a image to impress those that put them in power… sort of like the phrase “a drowning man grabbing straws”… decades in the past that may have worked but with today’s technology and knowledge book banning is an effort in futility…. the children should at least be made aware of what is available and what may be appropriate and what may not be… 🙂
Until we meet again..
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
(Irish Saying)
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Thanks very much for adding your thoughts, Dutch 🙂
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Book banning seeks to silence untold stories, but it won’t happen. I hope you do publish your book soon❤️
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Qonyike, I published my second novel in August 2021. You can learn more about it and my debut novel at my author website http://www.rosalienebacchus.com. Given their critical religious, social, and political content, they would not be included in a public school library here in the USA.
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Hello dear, not sure how I keep missing your posts, but I’ve noticed talk regarding banning certain books seem to be a major topic as of late. I too have read articles in magazines, but it’s also being discussed on talk shows, in the news…. seems people are more sensitive than ever which I can understand to a degree. With the variety of social influences everywhere these days, banning books doesn’t do much good when the info can be found in so many other places.
Thanks for the share!
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Very true, Tammy. When my sons were teenagers, I had a tough time preventing them from watching Internet porn.
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We have to constantly communicate w/ my oldest grandson who is now 13 about not giving in to the temptations & influences of society & social media which is challenging because we (family) are out numbered.
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Thanks for the link to the article by the author of Lawn Boy. I think the phrase he uses “post-truth era” is very apt. Another moving point he made was that [The United States] was never about liberty and justice for all but rather about maintaining the status quo”. Sorry he’s received so many awful emails. Glad his book sales improved because of the controversy.
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Rebecca, his story of the negative response to his best-selling book is a reminder that, as authors, success may come with a downside.
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Yes, Rosaliene. I believe fame often comes with a downside! not that I know from experience 🤣
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My state, Florida, has been one of the worst offenders in banning books in schools. Banning books narrows minds. Books in school libraries should be age-appropriate, but children do encounter situations such as families with two dads or two mommies and other subjects for which books have been banned. Heads in the sand do students a disservice. Thanks, Rosaliene, for a timely post.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Cheryl. I agree that we do a disservice to students who live in different family structures.
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