Books Banned in Virginia

20 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 213 challenges

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning epistolary novel about Celie, a young Black woman in the rural...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesLanguage
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 198 challenges

Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five is Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war masterpiece about Billy Pilgrim, who becomes 'unstuck in time' and exper...

ViolenceSexual ContentLanguage
BANNED 185 challenges

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give follows sixteen-year-old Starr Carter, who witnesses the fatal shooting of her unarmed childhood friend ...

Racial ContentLanguageViolence
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 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 151 challenges

Gender Queer: A Memoir

by Maia Kobabe

Gender Queer is a graphic memoir by Maia Kobabe that explores eir journey with gender identity and sexuality. The book h...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesAge Inappropriateness
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 146 challenges

Out of Darkness

by Ashley Hope Pérez

Out of Darkness is a historical novel set in 1937 East Texas, interweaving a forbidden interracial love story between a ...

Sexual ContentRacial ContentViolence
BANNED 143 challenges

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale is Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel set in Gilead, a totalitarian theocracy that has replaced the U...

Sexual ContentPolitical ContentReligious 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 138 challenges

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped is a young adult adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning, remixed by Jason Reynolds to trace t...

Racial ContentPolitical 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 47 challenges

The Bluest Eye

by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's debut novel, published in 1970, telling the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young Black g...

Sexual ContentRacial ContentViolence
BANNED 38 challenges

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

Beloved is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison set after the American Civil War. Inspired by the true story ...

Sexual ContentViolenceRacial Content