What Is the Most Banned Book in America? For all time, the most frequently banned book is 1984 by George Orwell.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Due to themes of death and the fact that the main characters are talking animals, a parent group in Kansas sought to ban the book from their students' school libraries.
Judy Blume is the author with the most banned books since 1990, as 5 of her titles appeared on lists of the 100 most banned over the past 3 decades. Chris Crutcher, Ellen Hopkins, and Stephen King have 4 of their titles appearing on the most banned list over this period.
Banned books often deal with subjects that are realistic, timely, and topical. Young people may find a character going through exactly what they are, which makes it a powerful reading experience and helps the reader sort out thorny issues like grief, divorce, sexual assault, bullying, prejudice, and sexual identity.
Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller
Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, published in 1934 in France, was controversial due to its rampant misogyny, sexually graphic content, and themes of toxic masculinity. Its 1961 publication in America led to a series of dozens of famous obscenity trials across the country.
Harry Potter Series
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published in 1997. In 2001, the book was banned because of ”satanism and anti-family themes.” In 2002-2004, the book was banned for its focus on wizardry and magic. However, these bans did not stop Rowling from writing the rest of the series.
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was originally banned in China and other parts of the world because some people objected to the animal characters being able to use human language. They felt this put animals on the same level as humans"(Banned).
Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham was banned in Maoist China in 1965. What was the reason? Apparently, it portrayed Marxism in a bad light by showing the Sam-I-Am character force his possessions (green eggs and ham) onto someone else. The ban was not lifted until Seuss' death in 1991.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding was challenged in the Waterloo Iowa schools in 1992 because of profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.
One of California's largest industries at the time was logging. Parents were concerned that teachers were “brainwashing” their children and were fearful the children would start an uprising against the logging industry. Because of this, “The Lorax” was banned in a Laytonville, California public school.
The book was misunderstood and was seen as being critical of all forms of socialism, rather than specifically Stalinist communism. The American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded a cartoon version in 1955. Because of its illegality, many in Soviet-controlled territory first read it in pirated, 'samizdat' form.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is regularly on the banned books list put out by the American Library Association. It has been banned because of vulgarity, racism, and its treatment of women.
Orwell's ''1984'' was published in 1949 as a warning against totalitarianism and it was banned in the Soviet Union until 1988, a report by news agency Reuters said.
It is written by Roald Dahl. James and the Giant Peach has been banned repeatedly because of references to alcohol, drugs, violence, and suspicious behavior.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl
This book was originally banned due to the fact that the depiction of the oompa loompas was seen as racist. Roald Dahl was taken aback by this and changed the description of the oompa loompas in a revised version.
Alice In Wonderland is rated PG by the MPAA for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar. As Alice ventures in Wonderland, she has many falls and perilous encounters. Ferocious creatures attack characters (one is injured and the bloody, festering wound is shown).
In the Walrus and the Carpenter sequence, watch as the R in the word, “March” flashes on the calendar above the mother oyster. This refers to an old belief that you could eat oysters only in months that have an R in their names.
Like the Scary Stories books, the Goosebumps series was banned by parents who felt that the books were too graphic and scary for their children. Many parents wanted to protect their kids from the element of fear; however, some teachers felt that Goosebumps helped students manage the feeling of being afraid.
The American Library Association states that The Catcher in the Rye has been banned by schools and public libraries for having “excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence and anything dealing with the occult” and “communism,” among other things.
Books about the Dalai Lama, about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre or the events of the Cultural Revolution. Books about the Falun Gong religious movement, and other religious books which may contradict government endorsed theology, including some editions of the Holy Bible.
While Shuruppak's fatherly wisdom is one of the most ancient examples of written literature, history's oldest known fictional story is probably the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” a mythic poem that first appeared as early as the third millennium B.C. The adventure-filled tale centers on a Sumerian king named Gilgamesh who is ...