Find more shareable statistics on the Free Downloads webpage.
The American Library Association condemns censorship and works to defend each person's right to read under the First Amendment and to ensure free access to information. Every year, ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from confidential reports filed by library professionals and community members, as well as news stories published throughout the United States.
Because many book challenges are not reported to the ALA or covered by the press, the data compiled by ALA represent only a snapshot of censorship attempts in libraries.
The 2024 data reported to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) shows that the majority of book censorship attempts are now originating from organized movements. Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries. Parents only accounted for 16% of demands to censor books, while 5% of challenges were brought by individual library users. The 120 titles most frequently targeted for censorship during 2024 are all identified on partisan book rating sites which provide tools for activists to demand the censorship of library books.
The most common justifications for censorship provided by complainants were false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes; and covering topics of race, racism, equity, and social justice.
Since 2021, ALA has tracked a sharp spike in censorship attempts in libraries. In 2024, ALA recorded the third highest number of book challenges since tracking began in 1990: ALA documented 821 attempts to censor library books and other materials in 2024 across all library types, a decrease from 2023, when a record high 1,247 attempts were reported. ALA recorded attempts to remove 2,452 unique titles in 2024, which significantly exceeds the average of 273 unique titles that were challenged annually during 2001–2020.
The Top 10 Most Challenged Books lists are released annually during National Library Week and Right to Read Day.
Looking for the most challenged books from previous years? Check out the Top 10 Most Challenged Books Archive for lists and data going back to 2001, as well as the 100 most challenged books of past decades.
Your support matters now more than ever. Donations strengthen ALA's efforts to fight censorship, support libraries and library workers confronting attempts to remove materials and other resources, and increase awareness about the nationwide assault on the freedom to read. If you're able, please consider donating to the Office for Intellectual Freedom today.
1. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
Number of challenges: 39
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
2. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Number of challenges: 38
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
3./4. (TIE) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Number of challenges: 35
Challenged for: depiction of sexual assault, depiction of incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content
3./ 4. (TIE) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Number of challenges: 35
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, depiction of sexual assault, depiction of drug use, profanity
5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Number of challenges: 33
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit
6./7. (TIE) Looking for Alaska by John Green
Number of challenges: 30
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit
6./7. (TIE) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Number of challenges: 30
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
8./9. (TIE) Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Number of challenges: 28
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, depiction of drug use
8./9. (TIE) Sold by Patricia McCormick
Number of challenges: 28
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, depiction of sexual assault
10. Flamer by Mike Curato
Number of challenges: 27
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
All Boys Aren't Blue
by
In a series of personal essays, journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. -- Publisher's description.
Flamer
by
"It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes--but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance."--Page 4 of printed paper wrapper.
The Bluest Eye
by
Pecola Breedlove, a young eleven-year-old black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dreams grow more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity. --From the publisher's description.
Gender Queer: a Memoir
by
"In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity--what it means and how to think about it--for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere"--Publisher's description.
Sold
by
Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her poor mountain home in Nepal thinking that she is to work in the city as a maid only to find that she has been sold into the sex slave trade in India and that there is no hope of escape.
The Hate U Give
by
The Kite Runner
by
To Kill a Mockingbird (graphic Novel)
by
Looking for Alaska
by
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by
King James Version Holy Bible
Persepolis
by
The Hunger Games
by
The Glass Castle
by
Beloved
by
Brave New World
by
Twilight
by
The Catcher in the Rye
by
The Color Purple
by
The Golden Compass
by
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by
Arming America
by
Of Mice and Men
by
Bridge to Terabithia
by
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by
Julie of the Wolves
by
Summer of My German Soldier
by
The Handmaid's Tale (Graphic Novel)
by