When first published, it was looked at and received as a warning as to where government could lead. Even with the fear of the power of the dystopian novel, it was a masterpiece of its time and gained the respect and influence by the general public. Throughout its time here, now more than ever, we have looked towards it as a guide to where the technology advancements and government control described in the novel can lead.

I selected this book to further everyone's knowledge of a compliant society and how it not only comes about, but where it leads. When I first read this book in middle school, I was moved by the way something so grim and eerily described could be our future if we let it. Re-reading this novel every year or so has not only given me a new meaning of it every time, but a new way at looking at the world and the censorship and surveillance we face in our everyday lives.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (2021) follows Daunis Fontaine, an 18-year-old Ojibwe teenager caught between two worlds: her Native American heritage and her life in a predominantly white community. When she witnesses a shocking murder connected to a drug crisis devastating her community, Daunis is thrust into a dangerous undercover FBI investigation. Balancing loyalty, identity, and truth, she must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to protect her people.

Censorship History:

Despite its acclaim, Firekeeper’s Daughter has faced challenges and bans in some U.S. schools and libraries. Critics often cite its depictions of drug use, violence, and sexual assault, as well as its frank discussions of racism, identity, and Indigenous sovereignty. Supporters argue that the book provides a platform for underrepresented voices and addresses real-life issues that teens encounter.

Personal Connection:

I selected this book because it blends powerful storytelling with urgent social issues: Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians writes authentically about identity and resilience, and I found Daunis’s journey both heartbreaking and empowering. The book matters to me because it highlights voices often silenced in mainstream literature, and its censorship history shows how necessary it is to protect stories that confront difficult but real truths. I am also half Native and half White, and this was the first book I had ever read that had a character who was like me.

Blurb:

I chose Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter (2021) because it is both a compelling thriller and a meaningful exploration of cultural identity. The story of Daunis Fontaine reflects the struggles of balancing two worlds while still trying to stay true to oneself. This novel resonated with me because of its honesty in addressing tough issues like substance abuse, racism, and violence, all while centering Indigenous voices that are rarely represented in young adult literature. Unfortunately, the book has also faced challenges and bans for the very reasons it is so impactful: its realistic depictions of trauma, resilience, and injustice. To me, this censorship makes the book even more significant, as it shows that literature that pushes boundaries often sparks the most important conversations. I find Firekeeper’s Daughter meaningful because it expands empathy and understanding while giving readers a heroine who is both strong and vulnerable, reflecting the realities that many young people face today.

The book follows a young girl named Scout, her brother, and their lawyer father, Atticus, as he defends a black man falsely accused of rape. The story is set in Maycomb, Alabama, where racial tensions are high and prejudice is the norm. Scout (and readers alike) is awakened to the harsh reality of the South and the "justice" system. Many readers enjoy Scout's adolescent perspective on the serious topics discussed in the novel.

I first read To Kill A Mockingbird in middle school for pleasure, and thought it was a very interesting perspective on a very real issue in our world. I was later required to read it again in my freshman year of high school. Discussing the book with other students helped me appreciate it more, and I gained a deeper understanding of the themes. 

The book follows a young girl named Scout, her brother, and their lawyer father, Atticus, as he defends a black man falsely accused of rape. The story is set in Maycomb, Alabama, where racial tensions are high and prejudice is the norm. Scout (and readers alike) is awakened to the harsh reality of the South and the "justice" system. Many readers enjoy Scout's adolescent perspective on such serious topics.

I first read To Kill A Mockingbird in middle school for pleasure, and thought it was an interesting perspective on a very real issue in our world. I was later required to read it again in my freshman year of high school. Discussing the book with other students helped me appreciate it more, and I gained a deeper understanding of the themes. 

Ainsley Culbertson - English/Lisensure

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 1999 young adult novel by American author Stephen Chbosky. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows Charlie, a very awkward and introverted teenager, through his freshman year of high school living in the suburbs in Pittsburg. The novel talks about Charlie's abnormal way of thinking as he navigates between adolescence and adulthood, and attempts to deal with hard questions by his interactions with both his friends and family.

Censorship history:

The perks of being a wallflower has been challenged in many states across the US with many states deciding to ban certain books like the perks of being a wallflower. Because of the “explicit content” which refers to substance abuse, sexual content, physical abuse, and many other topics that high schools parents deem “taboo.”

Personal connection:

When I was in high school I came across this book in my freshman year classroom on my teacher’s shelf. It completely changed my outlook in so many ways going into high school and forced me to focus on some of the good rather than the hard challenges you deal with as a teenager. This book inspired me, like many, to feel comfortable dealing with hard stuff and being able to come out the other side with a better outlook.

Blurb:

I chose this book because to me it reflects a lot of the hard topics that high school parents refuse to admit their children are dealing with. High school is a hard time for many teenagers and this book reflects a lot of those same hardships parents ignore.

Since being published, The Outsiders has been challenged three times, with only one being successful. The first time The Outsiders was challenged was in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the year 1986 by the school board. Though the challenge technically failed and did not get the book removed from the eighth-grade reading list, it did successfully bring lots of attention to the book and caused for it to be a frequently challenged book. The first and only successful challenger of The Outsiders occurred in 1992 by a parent in Boone, Iowa. It was challenged for "glamorizing smoking and drinking" as well as excessive violence and obscenities. The book has only been challenged one other time since these two occurred, it was in Eleanor, West Virginia in 2001 and was an unsuccessful challenge.

I chose this book because it is one of the most enjoyable books that I ever read in school. And even though I could not relate to it directly, it did give me a lot of insight to how life may be for certain young people throughout the country. I also think the challenges for this book are ridiculous as this book does not glamorize or glorify the activities taking place by any means, if anything this book likely makes teens think about how lucky they are to not be neglected and left fending for themselves in a dangerous world.

Twilight’s first ban came in 2008, it was a temporary ban in Capistrano, California, no explanation was given for its short disappearance from school library shelves. In 2009, the book series was challenged by a parent for sexual content in Magna, Utah. Also in 2009, the series was banned at Santa Sabina College in Australia for being “too racy”. Australia banned the series from primary schools and some middle grade schools for sexual content and for going against religious beliefs. The latest challenge came in 2015 from a minister in Cleveland, Texas. He believed that the books were “occult and demonic” and didn’t belong in a public library.

This series of books was extremely popular when I was in high school. We were all reading it and couldn’t get enough. I vividly remember going to Walmart before school started to purchase the last book in the saga, Breaking Dawn. At the same time, all of us girls were going to the midnight premieres of each movie. I connected to Bella because she was introverted but she always spoke up when it mattered. She was strong willed and put her heart into everything. This resonated a lot with me since I was also, and still am, an introvert. The series was also a great escape. The supernatural theme let you step away from the real world and be a part of someone else’s love story.

Two cases that I have found are from Lexington, SC in 2025 and Goffstown, NH in 2010. Parents of students reading the novel in schools have claimed that the book teaches no positive moral lesson, desensitizes and encourages violence, promotes anti-government rhetoric and includes overt sexuality. The book does indeed include themes relate to these topics, but if concerned parents read the novel, they would see that it clearly vilifies the government that enforces this brutal violence and instead, promotes kindness, unity, equality, human rights, and peace. The main characters' decisions demonstrate these values and therefore encourages students to do the same. For both challenges brought against The Hunger Games, the school boards were hesitant or against banning the book and the student in question was moved to another reading assignment.

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/education/article300980884.html  

https://www.slj.com/story/new-hampshire-parent-challenges-the-hunger-games 

https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10/archive  

The Lovely Bones was published in 2002 and became very popular. It was originally challenged in 2007 for not being appropriate for middle school students, and was challenged twice throughout 2008 and 2009. It was challenged again in 2017 in a high school for having “pornographic” scenes. It was also under review because it contained religious themes, specifically the idea of Susie telling the story from heaven and the idea that ghosts can have impacts on people who are still alive. However, Susie’s heaven contains no specific mention of a god and does not show specific support for any religion. 

I selected this book because it was the first book I had read that contained sexual assault, and that stuck with me. I originally read it in eighth grade after my teacher read the first pages to us and encouraged us to read the rest on our own. Reading The Lovely Bones made me realize how many cases like Susie happen all over the world, which I had never considered before at the time. As I read about Susie's family's reactions and growth from her death, it helped me to understand grief on a level that I had not before.

When looking at the list of banned books, this title jumped out at me. As long as I have been in school, the Goosebumps books have been used to get reluctant readers more engaged in literature. Moving books like this out of school libraries will neglect a large audience of readers. This is why I wanted to look into this book; banning it just doesn't feel right.

1920s International Bans: Banned in Italy and Yugoslavia due to concerns about Jack London’s socialist politics. 

Content Objections: Periodic U.S. challenges for violent scenes and depiction of animal fights. 

Modern Status: Frequently listed among “challenged classics,” but currently available in most school and public libraries. 

No major new legal bans or widespread removals reported as of 2025. 

Continues to be taught in classrooms and featured in reading programs like the NEA Big Read. 

I selected this book because I read it in high school and I really enjoyed it and I consider it to be one of my favorite books i Really enjoy how it navigates through certain issues

Censorship and Banning History:
American Psycho has faced numerous bans and restrictions globally. It has been restricted or banned in countries such as Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. In both Australia and New Zealand, the book must be sold shrink-wrapped and only to adult readers. The author himself has remarked that the book would likely not be published today due to “modern sensitivities.”

In the United States, the novel was most recently banned in April 2025 in Cobb County, Georgia, where it was removed from all public and school libraries. Despite ongoing censorship debates, the book remains in print. However, age restrictions and minor content alterations have been applied in newer editions in some regions.

The book follows a man named Guy Montag who works as a fireman. In the case of Fahrenheit 451, firemen set fire to books at the first sight of them instead of putting out fires.

The book has always been interesting to me because we are moving toward a similar society. Bradbury predicted this short attention spanned society that is constantly onto the next thing. Books are being read less and less as technology is taking over and knowledge is being forgotten and censored. Personally I believe this book can be used as a warning as to what we may, as a society, be moving towards.

Fight Club was very well received, sparking great reviews by the Washington Post and other reviewers. However, some critics felt it was overly violent, explicit, and supported cultish ideologies. The book was challenged by parents of students at Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas, in 2013, and removed from a required reading list. It was also banned in the Texas Prison System, and the ending of the film was changed for streaming in China, also removing nudity and some other explicit scenes. “My books are heavily banned throughout the U.S.,” Palahniuk said. “The Texas prison system refuses to carry my books in their libraries. A lot of public schools and most private schools refuse to carry my books. But it’s only an issue once China changes the end of a movie? I’ve been putting up with book banning for a long time.” (Chuck Palahniuk).

I first read this book in high school. It really opened my eyes to how quickly aspects of our lives can spiral when we let them be controlled by the influence of others, and how easily we can crave a life that we do not currently have.  

I connected with this book through its portrayal of fighting with your own mind. It made me realize how, in your own head you can get about the struggles and personal battles going on in your life, and the effect that it can have on you. I think this is something that often students, especially young adults, deal with and often don’t speak up about. Seeing ideas like this presented in something that I was reading was very eye-opening, and it was inspiring to see how the narrator was able to take back control of his own life in the end. 

https://ncac.org/incident/fight-club-nixed-from-ap-english-in-texas-after-parental-complaints  

https://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/fight-club/#:~:text=Removed%20from%20the%20Katy%20(TX,violent%20nature%20and%20explicit%20undertones. 

The novel's presence has been challenged in schools due to explicit language, sexual content, and perceived anti-American themes. In 1973, an English teacher was teaching Slaughterhouse Five at a North Dakota high school and a school board member had ordered that all 32 copies be burned.

I chose Slaughterhouse Five because it's one of the few novels that depicts both the devastation and absurdity of war. While reading it, I had a slight sense of discomfort but admiration. Admiration for how it made me think about how stories of war and violence can be told. I also really enjoyed how the fragmented narrative reflected how trauma reshapes memory, while also offering insight into the resilience of the human spirit.