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The American Library Association (ALA) has reported that organized groups are increasingly behind the movement to censor library books. In a recent analysis, the memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson emerged as the most challenged book of 2024, highlighting ongoing debates over literary freedom.
The ALA defines a book challenge as an effort to remove or restrict materials based on objections raised by an individual or group. Alongside Johnson’s memoir, other frequently challenged titles include Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
In total, there were 821 reported attempts to censor books in libraries across the United States in 2024, a decline from the previous year yet still reflecting the third-highest rate of challenges documented by the ALA. A significant portion of these censorship demands—72%—originated from “pressure groups, elected officials, board members, and administrators,” whereas only 16% were initiated by parents.
A noteworthy trend is the prevalence of challenges against books featuring queer characters or narratives centered on people of color. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, emphasized the implications of these challenges, stating, “We are witnessing an effort to eliminate entire genres and categories of books from library shelves in pursuit of a larger goal of placing politics and religion over the well-being and education of young people and everyone’s right to access and find information in our libraries.”
The findings of this report surfaced shortly after President Trump initiated actions to dissolve the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency responsible for grant funding to libraries and museums throughout the nation. In response to Trump’s proposals, 21 attorneys general filed a lawsuit aiming to halt the shutdown of the IMLS and other federal agencies.
Below is the ALA’s list of the ten most challenged books in 2024:
1. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
2. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
3. (TIE) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
3. (TIE) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
6. (TIE) Looking for Alaska by John Green
6. (TIE) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
8. (TIE) Crank by Ellen Hopkins
8. (TIE) Sold by Patricia McCormick
10. Flamer by Mike Curato
Source
www.npr.org