'TKAM' falls out of ALA's Top 10 List of Frequently Challenged Books

The American Library Association recently released its annual State of America’s Libraries report, which includes its annual list of Top 10 List of Frequently Challenged Books for 2012. This list was compiled based on the 464 challenges reported to the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

The previous year’s most challenged books included:

1. “Captain Underpants” (series) by Dav Pilkey

2. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

3. “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher

4. “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James

5. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

6. “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini

7. “Looking for Alaska” by John Green

8. “Scary Stories” (series) by Alvin Schwartz

9. “The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls

10. “Beloved” by Toni Morrison

This year’s list of most challenged books is very different than last year’s list of most challenged books, and I thought it was especially interesting that “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee fell out of the Top 10 this year. It was in the Top 10 in 2011 and in 2009. It is often challenged due to offensive language, portrayals of racism and its suitability for age groups, according to the ALA.

The 2011 most challenged books list included:

1. “ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series)” by Lauren Myracle

2. “The Color of Earth (series)” by Kim Dong Hwa

3. “The Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins

4. “My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy” by Dori Hillestad Butler

5. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

6. “Alice (series)” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

7. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley

8. “What My Mother Doesn’t Know” by Sonya Sones

9. “Gossip Girls (series)” by Cecily Von Ziegesar

10. “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

The 2010 most challenged books list included:

1. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

2. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

3. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley

4. “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins

5. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

6. “Lush” by Natasha Friend

7. “What My Mother Doesn’t Know” by Sonya Stones

8. “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich

9. “Revolutionary Voices,” edited by Amy Sonnie

10. “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer.

The 2009 most challenged books list included:

1. “ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r” (series” by Lauren Myracle

2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

3. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

4. “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

5. “Twilight” (series) by Stephenie Meyer

6. “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

7. “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult

8. “The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler

9. “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker

10. “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier

In the end, how many of this year’s most challenged books have you read? What do you think about them? Did you find them offensive or objectionable? Let us know in the comments section below.