Readers can consider the impact of book banning through these books for all ages with characters navigating and responding to censorship. Great for sharing with students and patrons during Banned Books Week (September 22-28) or all year round.

Suggested Reading by Dave Connis. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen. Sept. 2019. ISBN 9780062685254.
Gr 8 Up–When high school senior Clara Evans discovers her principal’s list of “contraband media,” she begins handing out the books—The Perks of Being a Wallflower, ­Eleanor & Park, Speak, and The ­Chocolate War, among others—that were removed from the school library. She does this during lunch, between classes, and after school, despite the promise of severe punishment for students caught with the prohibited books.

School Trip by Jerry Craft. Quill Tree/HarperCollins. Apr. 2023. ISBN 9780062885548.
Gr 4-8–The third novel in the "New Kid" series is not about censorship or book banning, but Craft touches on the subject—and nods toward the other two books in the series being challenged. In this book, main character Jordan learns that a couple of graphic novels have been removed from his school library, and he draws a comic about a writer being accused of having a harmful agenda.

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz. Tor/Starscape. Aug. 2017. ISBN 9780765385567.
Gr 4–6–When fourth grader Amy Anne finds out her favorite book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, is one of the titles banned from the school library by the PTA president, she decides to read all of the banned books. Other students start asking to borrow them, and soon Amy Anne and her friends are running the Banned Books Locker Library out of her locker.

This Book is Banned by Raj Haldar, illus. by Julia Patton. Sourcebook/eXplore. Sept. 2023. ISBN 9781728276564.
Gr 1–3–Giraffes are getting all the tasty leaves, and the hippos don’t like it one bit. The solution: Ban stories about giraffes! Complaining hippos are the next to be banned, followed by dinosaurs, avocados, beds, birthday cakes, and more. The hilarity here is balanced by more serious intent, beginning with an age-appropriate definition of a banned book. The ensuing examples, while comical, build understanding about what motivates book banners, including misinformation (dinosaurs are make-believe), personal beliefs (avocados are disgusting), and fear (there’s a monster under the bed). 

No Rules Tonight by Kim Hyun Sook. illus. by Ryan Estrada. Penguin Workshop. Oct. 2024. ISBN 9780593521298.
Gr 7 Up–Centering on a transformative camping trip, this graphic novel captures the bravery of a group of South Korean students as they experience a weekend free from the repression and surveillance that wait for them back home. Hyun Sook spends the evening struggling between her desire to lead a prohibited banned book club and her fear of discovery and punishment.

[READ: Banned Book Club Creators Offer Advice as Teens Confront Censorship]

The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale by Aya Khalil and Anait Semirdzhyan. Tilbury House. August 2023. ISBN 9780884489672.
K–Gr 3–Kanzi—the immigrant girl of Khalil and Semirdzhyan’s picture book The Arabic Quilt (which was removed from libraries in York, PA)—feels welcome at her school until an entire shelf of books about immigrant children and kids of color disappears from the school library. She and her classmates hold a bake sale to raise money to buy diverse books to donate to libraries, and the successful event leads to the books being allowed back into the library.

Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King. Scholastic. Sept. 2022. ISBN 9781338680522.
Gr 4–7–When sixth grader Mac opens a book in his classroom and sees words blacked out, he thinks it is a mistake. But Mac’s teacher is the town “watchdog,” who Mac and his friends think has taken it upon herself to remove words she finds inappropriate. They take their concerns to the principal, who is dismissive, so they set off to find the truth on their own. That quest leads to public discussions of underlying issues behind ­censorship attempts and the fight for power and control.

Answers in the Pages by David Levithan. Knopf. May 2022. ISBN 9780593484685.
Gr 5 Up–When a mother reads the last sentence of a book assigned by her son’s teacher, she challenges the title and sends his class into confusion and turmoil. Friends and family find themselves on opposite sides of the issue as the interpretation of the book and the nature of the challenge become a ­philosophical dilemma for administrators, parents, and students.

Americus by MK Reed. illus. by Jonathan Hill. First Second. 2011. ISBN 9781596437685.
Gr 8 Up–In this graphic novel set in small-town Americus, Neil Barton finds solace in a fantasy series that gets challenged by a radical group of community members, led by his best friend’s mother. With the support of the librarian, he takes a stand in favor of the series and speaks before the board to keep the books on the shelves.

Property of the Rebel Librarian by Allison Varnes. Random. Sept. 2018. ISBN 9781524771478.
Gr 4–7–Middle schooler June’s parents don’t like a book she is reading and create a public uproar that leads to her school librarian getting suspended and most of the books in the school library being removed. In response, June defies her parents and starts an underground library with books from fellow students and the town’s Little Free Library.