I’m with the banned
“Our big mistake was teaching them to read.” -Margaret Atwood, the Handmaid’s Tale
All titles banned in at least one US school district. (Per PEN America)
created by EllClaire
last updated May, 2026
Comments
YES read banned books
May I suggest Slaughterhouse-Five and Maus?
(Side note: this list is weirdly difficult to google as no one seems to agree on the list?)
Oh yes you’re right those are perfect! What do you mean it’s hard to google?
I feel like every time I try to search this list, I'm trying to find a very specific list rather than the wikipedia list or the Barnes & Noble list. Like I'm expecting there to be a very specific site (like the ALA only has up to 2024?). I also keep getting the feeling that the lists I get are highly dependent on the source - like, yeah, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 almost always make the list, and then I find ones that have The Giver or books that make me ask why would that even be in a school setting (because that's what I'm so used to being the setting these books are banned from when I should adjust to "a group of people got loud enough to have this book censored into oblivion") like...The Handmaid's Tale.
Maybe I'm not narrowing my search enough?
Oh yeah I think I get what you’re saying. I think it’s because there’s so many different books that have been banned in so many different school districts. And 1984, genderqueer, ACOTAR, etc. Always make the list because they’ve been banned in multiple different districts. So basically there’s a lot of different metrics you can use to categorize banned books. But things like Hunger Games have only been banned in like one or two. If you want a complete database of every book banned in any US school district, PEN America (link) has a complete database if you’re interested.
Thanks! I'll take a look.
