Banned Books: Explore the Display

In a series of personal essays, journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. -- Publisher's description.
Number of Challenges: 39
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit 

"In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity--what it means and how to think about it--for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere"--Publisher's description.
Number of Challenges: 38
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

An eleven-year-old black girl prays for her eyes to turn blue so people will consider her beautiful.
Number of challenges: 35
Challenged for: depiction of sexual assault, depiction of incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content

A haunting coming of age novel told in a series of letters to an unknown correspondent reveals the life of Charlie, a freshman in high school who is a wallflower, shy and introspective, and very intelligent. It's a story of what it's like to grow up in high school, tracing a course through uncharted territory in the world of first dates, family dramas and new friends.
Number of challenges: 35
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, depiction of sexual assault, depiction of drug use, profanity

Five troubled teenagers fall into prostitution as they search for freedom, safety, community, family, and love.
Number of challenges: 33
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit

Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
Number of challenges: 30
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit 

A teen who spends most of his time making parodies of movies, finds his outlook on life forever changed after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with leukemia.
Number of challenges: 30
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity