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Banned & Challenged Books for Adults

The majority of banned and challenged books fall to school libraries on children's books, but there's plenty of intellectual freedom to celebrate in adult reading too!

Library Staff
User from Calgary Public Library

11 items

  • Published in 1859, then banned from the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, where Darwin had been a student. In 1925, Tennessee banned the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools; the law remained in force until 1967.
    Book, 2003New York ; Toronto : Everyman's Library, Alfred A. Knopf 2003, c1859. — 576. 82 DAR 2003
  • In year 35 the Roman emperor Caligula opposed the reading of The Odyssey, written more than 300 years before. He thought the epic poem was dangerous because it expressed Greek ideas of freedom.
    Book, 2018New York, New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 2018, ©2018. — 883 HOM
  • After a parent formally complained about the novel’s “profane language,” anti-Christian overtones, “violence” and “sexual degradation”, a review panel recommended the novel be kept in curriculum for grades 11 and 12.
    Book, 1985McClelland and Stewart : Emblem Editions : Seal : Anchor, 1985. — FICTION ATW
  • Burned repeatedly by Muslims in the United Kingdom after its publication in 1988. India was the first of several countries in the world to ban the novel. In 2012, Indian writers called for the ban’s repeal.
    Book, 1988Toronto : Viking, 1988. — FICTION RUS
  • In 1974, a Wisconsin school district official justified a ban on this book by saying: "If there’s a possibility that something might be controversial, then why not eliminate it?"
    Book, 1970New York : Holt, Rinehart & Winston : Henry Holt & Co., c1970. — 970. 5 BRO
  • In 1957, a year after the publication of Howl & Other Poems, US Customs seized 520 copies of this book. Later that same year, this book was declared not obscene in a court decision.
    Book, 2006New York : HarperCollins, c2006. — 811 GIN
  • Administrators of Paris banned it shortly after release in 1759. 30,000 copies sold within a year, making it a best seller. In 1930, U.S. Customs seized Harvard-bound copies of the book. In 1944, the U.S. post office demanded that Candide be dropped…
    Book, 2005New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, 2005. — 843 VOL
  • Published in 1833, Leaves of Grass was threatened with banning 50 years later by Boston’s district attorney unless the book was expurgated. The public uproar brought such sales that Whitman was able to buy a house with the proceeds.
    Unknown, 1993New York : Modern Library, c1993. — 811 WHI 1993
  • Challenged repeatedly, as recently as 2011, since winning the Governor General's Literary Award in 1977. School boards continue to uphold the use of the book in secondary school curriculums.
    Book, 1997Penguin ; Viking Canada, 1997, c1977. — FICTION FIN
  • This critically acclaimed, multigenerational novel was challenged and banned because it includes sexual violence and was thought to “lead to terrorism” and “promote Islam.”
    Book, 2003[Toronto] : Doubleday Canada : Anchor Canada, c2003. — FICTION HOS