The subject of banned books seems to be on many people’s minds lately. There is a widely held belief that these prohibited novels are impossible to read legally, and are violently stripped from shelves. Many recall stories of the highly intense book burnings of Nazi Germany. However, while early America may have followed this style, “Book Banning” works a bit differently now. 

First of all, it is argued that there are no truly banned books today in the United States. When a book is truly banned by a government, it becomes illegal to possess, publish, or sell said book. In some cases, the author could even be sent to prison. Obviously, contemporary writers are not living under this threat. Book censorship today consists of restricting access to certain books due to the content they portray because those requesting censorship deem it disagreeable. This usually affects libraries and classrooms and comes in the form of removal (like from a library), relocation (like moving to an “adults only” section in a library), restriction (like limiting access or making it inaccessible without special permission), or redaction (like making it so sections of materials cannot be seen). Book bans in the modern U.S. do not restrict writing, selling, buying, or owning books.

Often to initiate book censorship, a person or entity must challenge a book, requesting to remove it from a location. There are usually reconsideration policies in place to determine the protocol involving a challenge and where to go from there. 

According to Wikipedia’s “Book Censorship in the United States,” the past few years have seen an increase in attempts and successes at censorship in the U.S., with reported cases rising 63% between 2022 and 2023. Of these censored books, about ¾ are within genres meant for children, pre-teens, and teenagers. However, book censorship isn’t anything new. 

Book banning in America began with the Puritans in the 17th century, when the typical method was book burning. It is thought that the first book ever to be banned in the U.S. was New English Canaan by Thomas Morton (a colonist), published in 1637. He wrote about the Indigenous peoples of New England at that time, the flora and the fauna, and what goods to sell back in England. However, he also criticized the Puritans, their society, and their treatment of Native Americans. He was arrested by the Puritans who attempted to exile him a couple of times, though he kept coming back. Still, the first official book burning in America is considered to be William Pynchon’s pamphlet, The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption, in October 1650. The Bible was also censored, as slaveholders did not want enslaved people to have access to stories like Moses leading people to freedom out of Egypt. The Confederacy also banned Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

Censorship in America continued with the Comstock Law in 1873 which criminalized the usage of the U.S. Postal Service to send any sexually related items, which included medical journals that held information regarding contraceptives and abortion. Book censorship flourished in Boston, causing book sales to be promoted throughout the rest of the U.S. by advertising them as “Banned in Boston.” However, it was in Boston in 1933 that a federal book ban was overturned, creating a distinction in the Comstock Law that depictions of sex should be allowed in serious literature. In 1957, the court decided that a book was considered obscene material if the average person would find that the material appealed to interest in sex and if the material was “utterly without redeeming social importance.”

In 1982, book censorship was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of  Island Trees School District v. Pico, which involved books that were deemed inappropriate being removed by a school board. The court made the ruling that under the First Amendment (freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petition), “Local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.” 

Throughout history, religion has been a common reason for book censorship, and the U.S. is no different. However, disagreeing with religious beliefs isn’t the only reason for book banning. Recently, the main considerations for book censorship are objections to sexually explicit material, objections to offensive language within material, or material as unsuited for certain age groups. Some of the main trends in book bans include books portraying sexual violence, LGBTQIA+ books (which from 2021 to 2023 made up 36% of all bans), and books about race, racism, and characters of color. Books have also been censored for their political content in the United States, with some being viewed as promoting anarchy, communism, or socialism. 

Again, under the recent political climate, book censorship has been increasing in the United States. Often there seems to be a concern about children reading content that is deemed inappropriate, either for their age or altogether. While a federal ban on the buying of certain books would violate the First Amendment, it is not impossible due to the obscenity statute. This refers back to the Comstock Law and the following distinctions discussed previously- as long as it has literary value, a book containing sex is protected by the First Amendment and considered non-obscene. However, some today are widening the scope of what counts as “obscene,” arguing that things like LGBTQIA+ topics fit under that category.

Is this just? It is up to each person individually how they should respond to this censorship. Does it rightly maintain the perspective of those impacted by the ban? Or does it unfairly reduce the world view of impressionable readers? Who’s right is it to decide? Does banning subvert this right altogether? These are questions we each must sit with. What’s important to remember though, while we are no longer burning books in the U.S., censorship still burns strongly.

A list of 40 books that have been subject to censorship:

1. Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
4. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry
6. 1984 by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Animal Farm by George Orwell
9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
11. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
12. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
13. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
14. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
15. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
16. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
17. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
18. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
19. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
20. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
21. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
22. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
23. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
24. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
25. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
26. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
27. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
28. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
29. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
30. Fifty Shades of Gray by E. L. James
31. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
32. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
33. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
34. Looking for Alaska by John Green
35. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
36. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
37. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
38. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
39. The Holy Bible
40. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson