Pick Up a Banned Book and Celebrate Your Freedom To Read!

Would you believe that according to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, there were 323 challenges to books in 2016? These are books found in school and public libraries and the majority of them are award winners and nominees. Here are the the books which received the most challenges.

1. This One Summer, written by Marino Tamiki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki – Challenged because it includes LGBT characters, drug use and profanity, and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.

2. Drama, written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier – Challenged because it includes LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit, and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint.

 3. George, written by Alex Gino – Challenged because it includes a transgender child, and the “sexuality was not appropriate at elementary levels”.

4. I Am Jazz, written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, and illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas…