Freed Between The Lines
By Audrey Swartz, Adult Services and Readers’ Advisory Librarian
The American Library Association (ALA) does many things for the profession from establishing guidelines for librarians across the board, to ethical requirements, to hosting a public policy and advocacy board, and tracking book challenges across the country through their Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). The OIF has been tracking book challenges and collecting data about challenged books since 1990, while the ALA established its now famous ‘Banned Books Week’ in 1982. In 2006, the organizations started to release the State of the Libraries Report. The report is published yearly and reflects the data collected for the previous year. According to the ALA State of America’s Libraries Report for 2024, they documented “4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023—a 65% surge over 2022 numbers—as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources…The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023.”
You’ll often notice that we, libraries, interchange the use of challenged and banned, making things more complicated than this librarian feels necessary. We do not ban books. Book bans happen at the state, county, and city levels by those governing bodies. The rhetoric we use around challenged and banned books is intended to highlight what is happening, to shine a light on the things taking place in schools and public libraries across the country. When you visit Manhattan Public Library during September, you will notice that, while we do have a display up, we have decided to use the word ‘challenge’. Merriam-Webster defines challenge as “to confront, to call out, to question” while defining ban(ned) as “to prohibit or forbid.” Neither the public library nor the ALA is banning anything. As organizations we are highlighting what is being challenged.
Below you will find the rankings of the most challenged books for 2023. You may notice that all but one of these books are young adult focused, and I urge you to think about why that is. Another interesting fact is Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” has appeared on the list almost every year since the organization began collecting data and has constantly been in the top 35 most challenged books from 1990-2023, ranking 3rd in 2022.
- “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
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. 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.
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
In a series of personal essays, prominent 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.
- “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson
This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who’s ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares.
- “Flamer” by Mike Curato
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.
- “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
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.
7/8. (tie) “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.
7/8. (tie) “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching … for freedom, safety, community, family, love.
- “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Is what I’m feeling normal? Is what my body is doing normal? Am I normal? How do I know what are the right choices to make? How do I know how to behave? How do I fix it when I make a mistake? Let’s talk about it. Growing up is complicated.
- “Sold” by Patricia McCormick
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.
To investigate more, please visit the ALA’s website at https://www.ala.org/bbooks or come on by and take a look at our display while snagging a library exclusive bookmark. As always, feel free to reach out to me as the Readers’ Advisory Librarian at aswartz@mhklibrary.org for a personalized reading list or suggested readings of any sort.
Manhattan Public Library is a cornerstone of free and equal access to a world of ideas and information for the Manhattan, Kansas, community. Manhattan Public Library serves more than 75,000 people in the Riley County area through curated book and other media collections, knowledgeable staff, relevant programming for all ages, and meeting space. Learn more at mhklibrary.org.
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Audrey Swartz, Adult Services and Readers’ Advisory Librarian