The theme for Banned Books Week 2025 is "Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights." 

In 2024, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 821 attempts to censor library materials and services. In those cases, 2,452 unique titles were challenged. In 2023, ALA tracked 1,247 attempts with 4,240 unique titles challenged. Though the number of reports decreased in 2024, the number of documented attempts to censor books continues to far exceed the numbers prior to 2020.
 

1. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

   Number of challenges: 39
   Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit 

2. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobaby

   Number of Challenges: 38
   Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, & claimed to be sexually explicit.

3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

   Number of Challenges: 35
   Challenged for: depiction of sexual assault, depiction of incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

   Number of Challenges: 35
   Reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, depiction of sexual assault, depiction of drug use, profanity

5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

   Number of Challenges: 33
   Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit

6. Looking for Alaska by John Green

   Number of challenges: 30
   Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit

7. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

   Number of Challenges: 30
   Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity

8. Crank by Ellen Hopkins

   Number of Challenges: 28
   Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, depiction of drug use

9. Sold by Patricia McCormick

   Number of Challenges: 28
   Challenged for: claimed to by sexually explicit, depiction of sexual assault

10. Flamer by Mike Curato

    Number of Challenges: 27
    Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

ALA cites the following factors contributing to the decrease in documented censorship from 2023:

• Underreporting – Many book challenges are not publicly reported or covered by the press. In many cases, reporting censorship poses significant risk to a library worker’s professional livelihood and personal safety.
• Censorship by Exclusion – This occurs when library workers are prohibited from purchasing books, or required to place books in restricted or less accessible areas of the library due to fear of controversy.
• Legislative restrictions – Several states have passed laws restricting the type of materials available in libraries and schools based on the ideas or topics addressed in the materials. Many of these laws require school districts to restrict or remove library materials that are broadly deemed to include “sexual content” or controversial themes, resulting in the removal of books with literary or educational merit from school libraries that include LGBTQ+ characters or themes, or the removal of books about race or racism and featuring characters of color.