8 Great Books To Read For Banned Books Week, Because You’re A Reading Rebel

Banned Books Week is here, and we've got you covered. This year, Banned Books Week runs from October 1st through the 7th. The week started in 1982 after a jump in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event is to highlight the value of free and open access to information, to bring the book community together, and to support the freedom to look for and express ideas.

This year, the honorary chair is the legendary Levar Burton, and this year's theme is Let Freedom Read. According to the American Library Association, "When we ban books, we're closing off readers to people, places, and perspectives. But when we stand up for stories, we unleash the power that lies inside every book. We liberate the array of voices that need to be heard and the scenes that need to be seen. Let freedom read!"

As part of Banned Books Week, the American Library Association is asking everyone to participate in Let Freedom Read Day. On October 7, 2023, they're asking everyone to take at least one action to help defend books from censorship. It's also to take a stand, and to support library staff, educators, writers, publishers, and booksellers. To take part, there are many things that you can do to help including:

The ALA would also love it if you shared how you took action on social media. you can use the hashtags #LetFreedomReadDay and #BannedBooksWeek And just a reminder: "Censorship won’t stop just because Banned Books Week does — you can take action any day of the year!" Get a more in-depth look at specific things you can do HERE.

Looking for some banned book suggestions? Here are 7 of my favorites.

"Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out." From Penguin Random House.

Nic Stone says she began writing the 2017 book as a response to the deaths of Jordan Davis and Michael Brown. It received seven bans in schools in the past year.

"Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps." - From Penguin Random House

"Looking for Alaska" is considered John Green's most controversial — it has been banned 11 times in schools since 2021.

"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." - From Harper Collins

In the 2021-2022 school year, The Hate U Give was removed from school libraries or classrooms 17 times.

"In this painful and all-too-timely book, two authors, one black, one white, present a story of police brutality. Jason Reynolds voices Rashad, the innocent victim of a police beating; and Brenden Kiely writes Quinn, a horrified witness." - From Publisher's Weekly 

Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely were sharing a hotel room when they heard that George Zimmerman had been acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin. They shared their frustrations and eventually decided to write a book together. All American Boys was subject to nine school bans during the 2021-2022 year.

Monday,  Black teenage girl goes missing — and her disappearance is never investigated. The book is based on real-life missing Black girls who fail to receive attention from media or police.

Monday's Not Coming, released in 2018, was been pulled from classroom or school library shelves seven times in the past school year.

"In the months following his father’s suicide, sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto can’t seem to find happiness again, despite the support of his girlfriend, Genevieve, and his overworked mom. Grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist won’t let him forget the pain. But when Aaron meets Thomas, a new kid in the neighborhood, something starts to shift inside him." - From Penguin Random House

"More Happy Than Not" deals with LGBTQ themes as well as suicide, depression, and teen pregnancy. It was banned in schools on eight times in the 2021-2022 school year.

"Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be." - From Simon & Schuster

Author Benjamin Alire Saenz has seen his book “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” banned by numerous school libraries and schools across the United States due to its depictions of homosexuality and references to drugs and sex.

I LOVED this book so much! When I finished, I sat there hugging it for a really long time. That's my sign of a great book!

""Speak up for yourself—we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication." - From Macmillan Books

The story was based on Anderson's own life, and was the fourth most-banned book in the United States in 2020, and removed from classrooms and libraries in schools six separate times between 2021-2022.