Happy Banned Books Week!

It's Banned Books week!! I love that this week exists and how much work the American Library Association puts into celebrating the freedom from censorship and the freedom to have accesses to information! In honor of this week, I thought I would put together a little collection of the formally banned and often challenged books that sit proudly on my book shelves.

You can see last year's post here.

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky 

Looking for Alaska, John Green

Elanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell 

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou 

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

The Handmaid's Tale, Margret Atwood 

Beloved, Toni Morrison

The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

1984, George Orwell 

It is important to note that books are still being challenged and removed from school and library shelves today. If a book has been challenged or removed from your school or library contact the ALA (American Library Association) and they will help you to restore the book to its proper place on the shelf. Hearing about the work the ALA is responsible for makes me swell with pride to be in a place and time where learning and access to information and literature is important and appreciated. It makes me proud to be a future educator of literature.

ALA website 

This site has lots of information on banned and challenged books of the past and present, as well as information on how to fight the removal of a book, and merchandise you can purchase to support banned books week.