![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Banned-Books-Week-Poster_0-191x300.png\")
As you may or not know, yesterday was the start of Banned Books Week! We always celebrate here at The Magical Buffet. The American Library Association, along with assorted schools, stores, authors, and more, come together for one week to bring attention to continued attempts to limit what people can read.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s theme is, “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” Sharing stories important to us means sharing a part of ourselves. Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, creates barriers. \u2013 from the ALA website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. And just like in year\u2019s past, I\u2019m here today to make you aware of the top 10 challenged books of 2020. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 156 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2020. Of the 273 books that were targeted, here are the most challenged, along with the reasons cited for censoring the books:<\/p>\n George<\/strong> by Alex Gino<\/p>\n Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting \u201cthe values of our community\u201d<\/p>\n Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You<\/strong> by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned and challenged because of author\u2019s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains \u201cselective storytelling incidents\u201d and does not encompass racism against all people<\/p>\n All American Boys<\/strong> by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be \u201ctoo much of a sensitive matter right now\u201d<\/p>\n Speak<\/strong> by Laurie Halse Anderson<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel\u2019s inclusion of rape and profanity<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct by the author<\/p>\n Something Happened in Our Town: A Child\u2019s Story About Racial Injustice<\/strong> by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin<\/p>\n Reasons: Challenged for \u201cdivisive language\u201d and because it was thought to promote anti-police views<\/p>\n To Kill a Mockingbird<\/strong> by Harper Lee<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a \u201cwhite savior\u201d character, and its perception of the Black experience<\/p>\n Of Mice and Men<\/strong> by John Steinbeck<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students<\/p>\n The Bluest Eye<\/strong> by Toni Morrison<\/p>\n Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse<\/p>\n The Hate U Give<\/strong> by Angie Thomas<\/p>\n Reasons: Challenged for profanity, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message<\/p>\n If you want to support these authors, independent bookstores, and myself, consider visiting my online bookshop where for your convenience you can shop all these titles<\/a>. (You\u2019ll also find the beginnings of other book lists. I add to the shop as time allows.)<\/p>\n Do you enjoy The Magical Buffet? Considering supporting The Magical Buffet on Patreon! For only $5 a month you\u2019ll receive monthly tarot\/oracle forecasts, classes, and behind the scenes updates! https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/magicalbuffet<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another year, another list of books that were challenged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,8,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17617"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/5-True-Diary-Twitter-300x169.png\")
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/strong> by Sherman Alexie<\/p>\n