Books Banned in Iowa

36 banned books

BANNED 224 challenges

Forever

by Judy Blume

Forever is Judy Blume's groundbreaking novel about Katherine and Michael, two teenagers who fall in love and make the de...

Sexual ContentAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 198 challenges

Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult examines a school shooting and its aftermath through multiple perspectives, exploring b...

ViolenceSexual Content
BANNED 189 challenges

Looking for Alaska

by John Green

Looking for Alaska is John Green's debut novel about a teenager who enrolls at a boarding school and falls for the brill...

Sexual ContentLanguageDrug/Alcohol Use
BANNED 187 challenges

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is Sherman Alexie's semi-autobiographical novel about Arnold Spirit Jr.,...

Sexual ContentLanguageRacial Content
BANNED 176 challenges

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is Stephen Chbosky's coming-of-age epistolary novel about Charlie, a shy freshman naviga...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesDrug/Alcohol Use
BANNED 174 challenges

All Boys Aren't Blue

by George M. Johnson

All Boys Aren't Blue is George M. Johnson's young adult memoir about growing up Black and queer in New Jersey and Virgin...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ Themes
BANNED 172 challenges

Tricks

by Ellen Hopkins

Tricks follows five teenagers from different backgrounds whose lives converge as they are drawn into prostitution. Writt...

Sexual ContentDrug/Alcohol UseViolence
BANNED 168 challenges

Crank

by Ellen Hopkins

Crank is a novel-in-verse based on Ellen Hopkins' daughter's experience with methamphetamine addiction. Written in Hopki...

Drug/Alcohol UseSexual ContentLanguage
BANNED 167 challenges

1984

by George Orwell

1984 is George Orwell's dystopian novel about Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in the totalitaria...

Political ContentSexual ContentViolence
BANNED 162 challenges

Sold

by Patricia McCormick

Sold is a novel-in-verse about Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old girl from Nepal who is trafficked and sold into sexual slave...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 161 challenges

Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak is Laurie Halse Anderson's award-winning novel about Melinda Sordino, a high school freshman who is ostracized aft...

Sexual ContentViolenceAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 156 challenges

Lawn Boy

by Jonathan Evison

Lawn Boy is Jonathan Evison's coming-of-age novel about Mike Muñoz, a young Mexican-American man working as a landscaper...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ Themes
BANNED 155 challenges

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why follows high school student Clay Jensen as he listens to cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a...

ViolenceDrug/Alcohol UseSexual Content
BANNED 154 challenges

Identical

by Ellen Hopkins

Identical is a novel-in-verse about identical twin sisters Kaeleigh and Raeanne, whose seemingly perfect political famil...

Sexual ContentViolenceDrug/Alcohol Use
BANNED 153 challenges

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel depicting a future society where humans are genetically engineered, c...

Sexual ContentDrug/Alcohol UsePolitical Content
BANNED 148 challenges

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner follows Amir, the son of a wealthy Kabul businessman, and his complicated relationship with Hassan, the ...

Sexual ContentViolenceReligious Objections
BANNED 142 challenges

This Book Is Gay

by Juno Dawson

This Book Is Gay is a nonfiction guide for LGBTQ+ teens and their allies, covering topics from coming out to safe sex to...

LGBTQ+ ThemesSexual Content
BANNED 136 challenges

Flamer

by Mike Curato

Flamer is a graphic novel memoir about Aiden Navarro, a half-Filipino boy at a Boy Scout camp in the early 2000s who is ...

LGBTQ+ ThemesSexual Content
BANNED 132 challenges

Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants is a historical novel set in a Depression-era traveling circus, following veterinary student Jacob J...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 108 challenges

A Court of Thorns and Roses

by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a fantasy romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast, following huntress Feyre as she's ta...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 104 challenges

A Court of Mist and Fury

by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury is the second book in Sarah J. Maas's ACOTAR series, following Feyre as she navigates the after...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 102 challenges

A Court of Wings and Ruin

by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin is the third book in Sarah J. Maas's ACOTAR series, following Feyre as she leads a dangerous m...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 98 challenges

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

by Jesse Andrews

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a darkly comic young adult novel about Greg, a socially awkward high school senior who...

LanguageSexual Content
BANNED 96 challenges

Empire of Storms

by Sarah J. Maas

Empire of Storms is the fifth book in Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass fantasy series, following assassin-queen Aelin Gal...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 35 challenges

Beyond Magenta

by Susan Kuklin

Beyond Magenta presents the stories of six transgender and nonbinary teens through interviews and photographs. It has be...

LGBTQ+ ThemesSexual ContentAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 25 challenges

Milk and Honey

by Rupi Kaur

Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry divided into four chapters dealing with survival, abuse, love, and femininity. ...

Sexual ContentViolenceAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 20 challenges

Impulse

by Ellen Hopkins

Impulse follows three teenagers who meet in a psychiatric hospital after each has attempted suicide. It has been challen...

Sexual ContentDrug/Alcohol UseViolence
BANNED 20 challenges

Lucky

by Alice Sebold

Lucky is Alice Sebold's memoir of being raped as a college freshman and the subsequent criminal trial. It has been chall...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 20 challenges

Perfect

by Ellen Hopkins

Perfect follows four teenagers whose pursuit of perfection leads them into eating disorders, steroid abuse, drug addicti...

Sexual ContentDrug/Alcohol UseLGBTQ+ Themes
BANNED 18 challenges

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

by Erika L. Sánchez

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter follows Julia Reyes, a first-generation Mexican American teenager dealing with he...

Sexual ContentLanguageDrug/Alcohol Use
BANNED 18 challenges

The Haters

by Jesse Andrews

The Haters follows three jazz camp dropouts who start a band and go on a chaotic road trip through the American South. F...

Sexual ContentLanguageDrug/Alcohol Use
BANNED 18 challenges

Tower of Dawn

by Sarah J. Maas

Tower of Dawn follows Chaol Westfall as he journeys to the southern continent seeking healing and an alliance against th...

Sexual ContentViolence
BANNED 16 challenges

The Female of the Species

by Mindy McGinnis

The Female of the Species follows Alex Craft, a girl who killed the man who raped and murdered her sister, and the two c...

Sexual ContentViolenceLanguage
BANNED 16 challenges

The Infinite Moment of Us

by Lauren Myracle

The Infinite Moment of Us follows Wren and Charlie as they fall in love the summer after high school graduation, navigat...

Sexual Content
BANNED 14 challenges

Like a Love Story

by Abdi Nazemian

Like a Love Story follows three teenagers in 1989 New York City navigating love, identity, and the AIDS crisis. It has b...

LGBTQ+ ThemesSexual Content
BANNED 14 challenges

The Sun and Her Flowers

by Rupi Kaur

The Sun and Her Flowers is Rupi Kaur's second poetry collection, exploring themes of growth, ancestry, immigration, loss...

Sexual ContentLanguage