The Banned Bookshelf

The other day, my mom went to Barnes and Noble and told me about the different book displays that greeted her. From "New Releases" to "Beach Reads", the displays were pretty standard, until she stumbled upon the "Banned Books" display. As she perused through the titles, she was shocked to discover that so many classic books have been banned somewhere in the world. It got me thinking about the books I read in school and, unsurprisingly, many of them were on the banned book list.

So here are five works of fiction that I read in school, remember I read, and liked that are on a banned book list somewhere.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye came in at #49 on the most challenged book list of the last decade.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

According to the American Library Association, The Glass Castle was the seventeenth most banned and challenged book in the United States from 2010-2019.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

While The Great Gatsby was not on the most challenged book list of the last decade, it was recently removed from the curriculum in an Alaskan school district because of "language and sexual references" in the book.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The American Library Association placed To Kill a Mockingbird at number 15 on the most banned and challenged books from 2010-2019.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men comes in at #28 on the most challenged book list of the last decade.

I also pondered about the people who fight to ban books. These individuals are petrified of ideas, thoughts, and words that challenge their beliefs, and they strive to eliminate them from public discourse. They hold onto the misguided notion that by banning ideas, they can make them disappear entirely…but that’s not how the real world works. Ironically, they often dismiss the opposing side as sensitive or weak, yet it is their own trepidation of the unfamiliar that propels their actions. What's even more ironic is that their attempts to suppress certain ideas or narratives only serve to draw more attention to the very works they seek to silence.