I'm With the Banned | Mid-Columbia Libraries

The hill we climb : an inaugural poem for the country

Gorman, Amanda, 1998- author.

From the Publisher

"On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet, at age twenty-two, to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Her inaugural poem, 'The Hill We Climb,' is now available to cherish in this special edition"-- Provided by publisher.

My Thoughts

Restricted in at least one school district as only ‘suitable for older readers’, despite it being read at the presidential inauguration.

It ends with us

Hoover, Colleen, author.

From the Publisher

"Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most. Lily hasn't always had it easy, but that's never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She's come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up--she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily's life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a...

My Thoughts

Banned or challenged across the country, with one of the top complaints being it deals with domestic abuse.

The hate u give

Thomas, Angie.

From the Publisher

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's...

My Thoughts

Banned and challenged for violence, profanity, and promoting anti-police messaging.

Beartown : a novel

Backman, Fredrik, 1981- author.

From the Publisher

Winning a junior ice hockey championship means everything to the residents of Beartown, a struggling community slowly being eaten alive by unemployment and an steadily encroaching wilderness. Victory could attract government funding and an influx of talented athletes who would choose Beartown over the big nearby cities. Victory would mean everything to outcast Amat, to golden boy and star player Kevin, and to dedicated general manager Peter, whose own professional hockey career ended too early....

My Thoughts

Found in one school district, parents complained about the vulgar and graphic content.

13 reasons why : a novel

Asher, Jay, 1975- author.

From the Publisher

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

My Thoughts

This has been banned across the country, and in some schools, banned even for personal reading. It has been challenged for being sexually explicit, suicide, drugs and alcohol.

The art of racing in the rain : a novel

Stein, Garth.

From the Publisher

Nearing the end of his life, Enzo, a dog with a philosopher's soul, tries to bring together the family, pulled apart by a three year custody battle between daughter Zoe's maternal grandparents and her father Denny, a race car driver.

My Thoughts

Banned for sensitive materials, seeming to hinge on that fact that at one point a character is falsely accused of molestation.

I am not your perfect Mexican daughter

Sánchez, Erika L., author.

From the Publisher

Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents' house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga's role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel...

My Thoughts

Banned or challenged due to strong language, ‘negative’ portrayal of religious faith, and suicidal ideation.

The kite runner

Hosseini, Khaled.

From the Publisher

Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day.

My Thoughts

Banned or challenged due to age inappropriate material, sexually explicit content, and offensive language.

Mexican whiteboy

de la Peña, Matt.

From the Publisher

Sixteen-year-old Danny searches for his identity amidst the confusion of being half-Mexican and half-white while spending a summer with his cousin and new friends on the baseball fields and back alleys of San Diego County, California.

My Thoughts

Banned for containing critical race theory.

All boys aren't blue : a memoir-manifesto

Johnson, George M. (George Matthew), 1985-

From the Publisher

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony...

My Thoughts

The second most banned book in the country. Banned for LGBTQ content and for being sexually explicit.

A court of mist and fury

Maas, Sarah J., author.

From the Publisher

Though Feyre now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, but as she navigates the feared Night Court's dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms--and she might be key to stopping it.

My Thoughts

This book has been banned or challenged in various school districts, and in Virginia was included in a lawsuit where a state legislator tried to stop Barnes and Noble from even selling it. Challenged for being obscene.

Gender queer : a memoir

Kobabe, Maia, author.

From the Publisher

"Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide...

My Thoughts

The other book singled out in the above mentioned lawsuit. This is also the ALA most challenged and censored book of 2021. Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content.