The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

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1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Dieby Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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This is quite appaling, these are books that have been petionioned against to be removed from public and school librariies as reported by the American Library Assocication.


I have read almost a third of the books on this list, jsut reading the list made me remember how good some of them were:

Bridge to Terabithia was one of my favorite books when I was about 12 years old...

 

You mean 1900 - 2000 right?

 

Nope, 1990-2000...

None of these books have been banned from ALL libraries...ones that havent are still getting requests to remove them..

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*Information wants to be free*​

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How any of those books could be banned is beyond me, though I haven't read nearly half of them. One that does surprise me is A Day No Pigs Would Die - why anyone would want to ban that book is beyond me.

 

Maybe "Go Ask Alice" doesn't need to be banned, but it sure as hell needs to be thrown in the garbage. Anyone who writes a book pretending to be some drug addicted teen in order to push their anti-drug shit needs a decent ass beating.

I mean come on, pot heads attacking and trying to kill you because you won't smoke with them? Where the hell did this chic supposedly live?

 

vee have ways of making joo smoka za pot!

 

a few of those books were school reading books....

the giver, killing mr griffin..and a few others (too lazy to read back through the list)

 

To petition a Government body, be it Congress, the President, or the local library board is a citizen's right. Our rights of petitioning is silent, or does not stipulate, whether the petition itself makes sense or be reasonable.

Unfortunatly some parents, rather their kids exposed to books that are contrary to their beliefs (political or religous) attempt the books removal rather accomodate their existance. Blindness towards anything outside their credence is easier than explaining, teaching their sons and daughters other faiths or opinions exist.
Hopefully the school or library board can understand an attempt to stifle an idea and react accordingly.

 

My guess is that the majority of human beings don't value freedom. They say they do, but once someone does something of which they disapprove, they want laws, bans, and cops.

I can see why parents might want to restrict their children's access to certain materials. Some of the books on that list could be upsetting to sensitive children, and at least a couple of them are dangerous for people who have not yet developed mature judgment. But I take a dim view of people who try to prevent everyone's access.

 

I haven't read all of them but I've read a few of them. I really can't see what's wrong with them. Especially the Anistacia series...I can understand a few of the others because they mention sex/periods/etc but I don't think that ever mentioned anything like that... weird

 

Haven't heard of all of them, but have read a few. Some I can understand being dodgy (Forever, Sex, the obviously gay themed books)
but others are baffling, never seen the problem with Catcher in the rye, and Huckleberry Finn?
Haven't read that, but it seems innocent enough.

LOL I'm going to try and read all those to figure out what the fuss is.

I've never noticed censorship like that in the UK, but then when you see the sex, violence etc in soap opreas (shown at prime time) it's understandable they aren't going to fuss over books.

 

Huckleberry Finn gets in trouble because of the n-word.

 

Wow, reading through that list I saw almost every single book that had a huge impact on my life. I'm really horrified. I've heard about the issues with Huckleberry Finn. I can't believe that people can't look past the word and see the context in which it is being used.

I'd also really like to know why Where's Waldo? is on that list. What?!

 

the reason why huckleberry finn is on there is not solely because of the "n" word. all of these books are on there because they challenge and go against what the government wants us to do. they do not want anarchist ideas in our minds. they do not want us to feel strong or empowered enough to do something drastic...to make a difference. they parade this 'reality' to us through media, through television shows, through laws, through everything. they limit us so we do not rebel. they do not let us know of another realm, so we do not rebel. if we are surrounded by what they want us to be like (working class citizens who pay taxes...have you ever seen prime time sitcoms?) and nothing more, we will know of nothing more and they will win.

READ THESE GOD DAMN BOOKS. EXPAND YOUR MIND. DO NOT LET THE GOVERNMENT, THE MEDIA, YOUR PARENTS, YOUR TEACHERS, YOUR BOSS CONTROL YOUR MIND, CONTROL YOUR DECISIONS.

PS. Why isnt 1984 on this list? or did i miss it?

 

Exactly, this list should be a requied reading list! If everyone read at least 10 of the books on that list in school it would be very educational!

 

I had to read The Giver back in the fith grade. That, more than any other book i've read since then or before, has changed the way i look at the world.

Well, that and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

 

cloudy with a chance of meatballs!! YES! i need to go read that as soon as i get off this site



i can't believe they would want to ban these books, the one's i've recognized from reading were


scary stories
harry potter
the giver
go ask alice
are you there god, its me margaret
of mice and men (going to read)
huckleberry finn (going to read, actually i will start tonight!)
chocoalte war
catcher in the rye
goosebumps
a day no pig would die
a wrinkle in time
blubber
to kill a mockingbird
where's waldo (why anyone would want to ban where's waldo is beyond me)
tom sawyer




the fact that i can name this many that i've read that are on this list..... what's their reasoning behind this? does where's waldo really pose that much of a threat? what happened to free speech?

 

ahahahaha Goosebumps thats SO crazy. I guess someone is seeing something in these books that Im not!

 

that's a brutal list.

i had to look up bridge to terabithia on amazon to try to figure out why anyone would have any problelms with it. some jesus freak gave a bad review saying that "the lord's name was taken in vain". bleh.

and l'engle's a wrinkle in time!? I LOVED that book.

is there a website somewhere that tells why people want all of these books banned?