Banned Books List 2026: The Most Challenged Books in the US

Every year, the American Library Association tracks which books were formally challenged or removed from US schools and libraries. The numbers have climbed steadily since 2021, with 2023 and 2024 setting records for the most challenges filed in a single year. The 2026 list continues this pattern.

This post covers the most challenged books currently targeted for removal, who is filing the challenges, and which books have been removed from entire school districts.

What Makes a Book "Banned" vs. "Challenged"

A challenged book is one where a formal complaint has been filed requesting its removal from a library or classroom. A banned book is one that has actually been removed. Most challenges are unsuccessful — only about 20 percent result in removal. However, the volume of challenges has increased so dramatically since 2021 that the number of actual removals has also risen sharply.

Book challenges happen at multiple levels: individual school libraries, entire school districts, and public libraries. State-level legislation in some states has shifted the process, allowing challenges without requiring the challenger to be a parent of a student in the school.

The Most Challenged Books in the US (2023-2025)

The following books appear consistently at the top of the ALA's banned and challenged books lists over the past three years:

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

This memoir about gender identity and sexuality has topped the ALA's most challenged books list for multiple consecutive years. It was written for adults but found an audience among teens exploring identity. Challenges focus on its explicit visual content. It has been removed from dozens of school libraries and challenged in public libraries as well.

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

A memoir-manifesto about growing up as a Black queer person in New Jersey. It covers sexual assault, racial identity, and sexuality explicitly. Challenges cite its sexual content and have resulted in its removal from multiple school districts in states including Florida, Virginia, and Texas.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Morrison's first novel, published in 1970, has been challenged repeatedly for decades but saw a sharp increase in challenges after 2021. It deals with racism, sexual abuse, and poverty in a 1940s Ohio community. It is also one of the most assigned books in AP English Literature courses, which makes its removal from school libraries particularly consequential for students.

Flamer by Mike Curato

A graphic novel about a boy at summer camp who is coming to terms with being gay. Challenges cite sexual content and LGBTQ themes. It has been removed from school libraries in multiple states.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

A young adult novel about a high school student recovering from rape. Originally published in 1999, it has been on challenged book lists for twenty-five years. Challenges cite its subject matter (sexual assault) as inappropriate. Many educators argue it is precisely the book students in similar situations need access to.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been challenged on two opposing grounds: for its use of racial slurs and for its treatment of race relations in the South. Some challenges argue it is traumatic for Black students; others argue it normalizes racism. It remains one of the most widely assigned books in American schools while simultaneously appearing on challenged lists.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Hosseini's debut novel about Afghanistan contains a scene depicting sexual assault of a child. It has been challenged repeatedly in school libraries for sexual content and violence. It remains assigned in many high school and college courses for its exploration of guilt, redemption, and Afghan history.

1984 by George Orwell

Orwell's dystopian novel appears on challenged lists less frequently than the books above, but has been challenged for its sexual content and "pro-communist" themes (a misreading of the novel's intent). It remains one of the most-read books in English-speaking schools worldwide.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Atwood's novel about a theocratic regime that enslaves women as reproductive vessels has been challenged for sexual content, profanity, and "anti-Christian" themes. Challenges have increased since 2022, likely driven by the political context of abortion legislation in the US.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

The Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust attracted national attention in January 2022 when the McMinn County, Tennessee school board voted to remove it from its eighth-grade curriculum. The decision cited nudity and profanity in a book about the Holocaust, and sparked significant national debate about censorship and Holocaust education.

States with the Highest Challenge Rates

According to PEN America's Index of School Book Bans, the states with the most books removed from school libraries in recent years are Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Utah. Texas and Florida account for roughly half of all book removals tracked by PEN America.

Both states have passed legislation that changes the process for challenging books. Florida's HB 1467 (2022) required that any book not reviewed by a certified media specialist be removed from classrooms and school libraries, resulting in large-scale temporary removals while reviews were completed. Texas legislation made it easier to file challenges without the challenger being a parent of a student at the school.

Why Challenges Have Increased Since 2021

The current wave of challenges is organized rather than spontaneous. Organizations like Moms for Liberty and No Left Turn in Education have published lists of books they consider objectionable and coordinated challenges across multiple school districts simultaneously. This is why the same books appear on challenged lists in dozens of unrelated districts across different states in the same year.

This organized approach is new. Prior to 2021, most challenges were individual parents objecting to a specific book their child encountered. The current pattern of coordinated multi-district challenges from parent organizations is historically unusual.

Reading the Most Challenged Books

If you want to read the books being challenged rather than have someone else decide whether you should, most are available through your local library, Amazon, or independent booksellers.

Several of the most frequently challenged books are also excellent reads on their own terms — Maus is one of the greatest graphic novels ever written, The Bluest Eye is a masterwork of American literature, and 1984 remains one of the most important political novels of the twentieth century.

For more reading lists covering dark and controversial subjects, see our most controversial books of all time and dark history book recommendations.