Three new release books read in October
There are two other great books to check out the creepy recommendations and October reading goals.
Banned Books Week has launched, with the top challenge list of this year dominating the new title.
Banned Books Week will be on October 5th-11th, with this year’s theme: “Censorship is 1984. Read Your Rights.” This theme is inspired by George Orwell’s “1984.” It is a dystopian novel that tells the story of a man trying to break away from the oppressive regime of society. Although the novel is set in 1984 (the book was published in 1949), Freedom Advocates argues that the increase in banned books today is similar to the censorship shown in Orwell’s work.
Despite the rise in book bans, polls show that most Americans disagree with them. A 2022 American Library Association poll found that 71% of the 1,000 people surveyed were opposed to the book ban efforts.
Research shows that those who supported the ban stated that “we need to protect young people from books that may be upsetting or that they need to reflect ideologies and lifestyles that are out of mainstream.”
Thousands of books are challenged every year. Let’s take a look at the titles that have been the most banned in the past year.
What is Banned Books Week?
Banned Books Week is a move to celebrate the freedom of reading, focusing on censoring literature in libraries, schools and bookstores. The week of recognition began in 1982, created in response to the surge in these challenges, according to the American Library Association.
What are the top 10 most banned books?
According to Penn America, the 10 most challenging books for the 2024-2025 academic year were:
- “Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess
- “Getting out of breath” by Jennifer Niven*
- “Sales” by Patricia McCormick*
- “Last night at The Telegraph Club” Malinda Lo
- “The Court of Fog and Anger” by Sarah J. Mars
- “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins†
- “Eternal…” by Judy Bloom †
- “Personal benefits of being a wallflower” by Stephen Cibosky †
- “Evil Things: The Life and Era of the Evil Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire
- George M. Johnson, “All Boys Are Not Blue”
*Title Nos. 2 and 3 have been tied up. †Title Nos 6, 7, 8, and 9 have been linked.
“All Boys Are Not Blue,” “Persons of Being a Wallflower,” “Cranks,” and “Sales” were also featured in the top 10 books on the American Library Association’s 2024 list.
How many books were banned in 2024?
The number of target book titles for 2024 depends on the source.
The American Library Association says 2,452 unique book titles were challenged in 2024, while Penn America recorded 3,752 unique titles. These differentiated numbers are based on how the two organizations ban trackbooks.
Top how are banned books tracked?
Penn America and the American Library Association tracks banned books in a slightly different way.
In addition to the number of unique titles affected, Pen tracks the number of assignments each year. This latter number is large, as it occupys all the challenges, even if the title of the same book.
Regarding Penn’s methodology, according to Penn’s website, the organization “analyses all related news articles on school library books, curriculum, classroom library assignments, restrictions and prohibitions. The organization also consults the district’s website and letters sent to the school district to address librarians, authors and teachers.
The American Library Association similarly compiles the list and analyzes news articles published in the United States and reports submitted by library experts.
Both Penn and the American Library Association have allowed reporting restrictions. Booking unreported issues and bans has not been addressed by the organization. And as the book ban continues quickly, it is difficult for organizations to maintain all of them.
Furthermore, PEN only looks at snapshots of books that were deleted within a year, so previously banned books do not create a list of organizations.
Gretacross is a national trend reporter for USA Today. Story ideas? Please email her gcross@usatoday.com.
