The ALA's Top 10 Most Challenged Books in 2021

Twenty years ago, the American Library Association (ALA) began tracking book challenges across the United States. Recently, they announced that 2021 brought the highest levels they've seen of attempts on book banning with 1,597 books being either challenged or removed from curricula and libraries. Furthermore, this count is based on voluntary reporting and media reports and it is believed to be far from comprehensive.

Each year, the ALA publishes a list of the ten most challenged books. Here is the list from 2021.

1. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, started writing this Alex Award-winning graphic memoir as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual. The book explores common questions surrounding sexuality and gender identity.

Challenges and objections have been made to the LGBTQ content, as well as images considered to be sexually explicit.

2. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Another Alex Award-winner, this novel follows a young Mexican American man coming to terms with his sexual identity. Just a few years out of high school, he’s been fired from his latest gig on a landscaping crew. As he tries to figure out what’s next, he finds himself along the way.

Challenges and objections were made over LGBTQ content and content that was considered sexually explicit.

3. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

From childhood memories of being bullied to his first sexual relationships, this YA memoir offers an unflinching look at the challenges and joys of growing up Black and queer. The stories incorporate themes of gender identity, family, brotherhood, and consent.

Challenges and objections were made due to profanity, as well as sexually explicit and LGBTQ content.

4. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez

Set in 1930s Texas, this novel centers on a forbidden romance between two teens, a Mexican American girl and a Black boy. The book includes a detailed author’s note discussing her research and the importance of representing voices that have been excluded from historical accounts.

Challenges and objections were made regarding depictions of abuse and content considered to be sexually explicit.

5. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This bestseller, which has also been adapted for the screen, centers on Starr, a Black teen whose friend is shot by a police officer during a traffic stop. Afterwards, Starr struggles to process her grief as legal challenges mount and her community erupts with anger over the high-profile incident.

This book has made the top ten list several times, including 2017, 2018, and 2020.
Challenges and objections to the content cite profanity, violence, and the perception that it is promoting an anti-police agenda.

6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This autobiographical novel tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, he leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

The book has made the top ten list at least eight times since its 2007 publication.
Challenges and objections cite profanity, sexual references, and the use of a derogatory term.

7. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

A film based on this novel made the festival rounds a few years ago. It is the story of an awkward teenage boy coasting through high school. When he is forced to spend time with a terminally ill classmate at the request of his meddling mother, he finds something worth working for.

Challenges and objections include content considered to be sexually explicit and degrading to women.

8. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Several of Morrison’s books deal with sensitive subject matters and have frequently been the target of bans over the past years. Her debut novel centers on Black eleven-year-old Pecola, who prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America.

This book has been on the list several other times, including 2014, 2013, and earlier.
Challenges and objections have been made because of its depiction of child sexual abuse and content considered to be sexually explicit.

9. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

This nonfiction book presents an exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ. It addresses a variety of issues including sex, politics, and stereotypes. It also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums alongside comic-style illustrations.

Challenges and objections cite concern that the book includes sexual education and LGBTQ content.

10. Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin

Author and photographer Susan Kuklin interviewed and photographed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults. This book documents their physical and emotional journeys before, during, and after their acknowledgment of gender preference.

This book also landed on the list in 2019.
Challenges and objections focus on LGBTQ content and content that was considered sexually explicit.

To learn more about the American Library Association and Book Challenges, and see the lists from previous years, visit their website.

Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon