Banned Book List 2012-2013

 

2012 – 2013 Most Challenged Books

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  1. Captain Underpants by Dav PilkeyFull of “action”, “laffs” and “thrills”, Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series charts the elementary school careers of comic fans Harold and George as they battle against their child-hating principal, Mr Krupp.
  Reasons for challenges: Offensive language, unsuited for age group

  PR

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  2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman AlexieThe chronicle of a Native American boy who leaves the troubled school on the reservation and finds that he is the only kid at the high school in town who isn’t white.
  Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group

  PR

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  3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay AsherAsher explores the stresses and strains of high-school life with the story of a suicide in Middle America.
  Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group

  PR

  

  4. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL JamesThis bestselling ‘spankbuster’ tells how high-flying sadomasochist Christian Grey seduces college student Anastasia Steele. Its commercial success has unleashed a tide of copycat erotica all around the world.
  Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit

  PR

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  5. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin RichardsonThe story of two male penguins who bring up a chick, And Tango Makes Three was inspired by a couple of male penguins in New York Zoo who hatched and cared for a chick.
  Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group

  PR

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  6. The Kite Runner by Khaled HosseiniHosseini’s first novel tells how Amir is brought up alongside Hassan, at first befriending and then betraying him. It has sold more than 20m copies around the world.
  Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit

  PR

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  7. Looking for Alaska by John GreenMiles Halter arrives at a boarding school in Alabama, where everything is rosy with new friends Alaska and Chip – until tragedy strikes.
  Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group

  PR

  
  

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  8. Scary Stories (series) by Alvin SchwartzSchwartz’s first volume of spooky folklore and grisly urban legend, complete with haunting illustrations by Stephen Gemmell, was first published in 1981.
  Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence

  PR

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  9. The Glass Castle by Jeanette WallsThis memoir charts a difficult childhood, with a mother who called herself an ‘excitement addict’ and a father who descended into alcoholism.
  Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit

  PR

  
  

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  10. Beloved by Toni MorrisonFirst published in 1987, Beloved tells the story of Sethe, who kills her eldest daughter rather than have her taken back into slavery in Kentucky.
  Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

  PR