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  • General Recommendations
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Censorship on Blast

Censorship is so 1984 - read for your rights! Check out these middle grade and young adult books about fighting censorship, finding yourself on the page, and taking a stand for the right to read.

User from Oakland Public Library

13 items

  • Banned Together

    Our Fight for Readers' Rights

    "This bold collection of fiction, memoir, poetry, graphic narratives, essays, and other genres explores book bans through various lenses, and empowers teens to fight back. From moving personal accounts to clever comebacks aimed at censorship,…
    Book, 2025New York : Holiday House, [2025] — YA SS BANNED
  • "Kim Hyun Sook shares a dramatic true story of political division, fear-mongering, anti-intellectualism, the death of democratic institutions, and the relentless rebellion of reading in this biographical graphic novel."
    Graphic Novel, 2019Chicago, IL : Iron Circus Comics, 2019. — YA 741.5 KIM
  • "While still coping with her parents' sudden divorce and having to start at a new school midway through her senior year, Noor and two new friends take a stand against book bans at their small-town Illinois high school."
    Book, 2024New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2024. — YA FIC AHMED
  • "In a world where paper is extremely scarce and books are priceless, Juni undertakes a dangerous quest to find a legendary lost treasure—the last library."
    Book, 2024[Salt Lake City, Utah] : Shadow Mountain Publishing, [2024]. — J FIC COLE
  • Library Wars

    Love & War. Vol. 1

    Yumi, Kiiro
    "In a world where information is heavily censored, Iku Kasahara joins the Library Force to protect the freedom of literature and follow in the footsteps of a man who once saved her favorite book from being destroyed."
    Graphic Novel, 2010San Francisco, California : Viz Media, [2010], c2008. — J 741.5 YUMI v.1
  • "After her principal bans a number of books from the school library, bibliophile student Clara joins forces with her friends to start an underground library."
    Book, 2019New York, NY : Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2019] — YA FIC CONNIS
  • "No matter what was going on in Molly’s life at home, she always had book club at school. But when someone anonymously notifies school boards about a controversial book in the classroom, her favorite teacher Ms. Lewiston is suspended…and book club…
    Book, 2024New York : Delacorte Press, [2024] — J FIC LEVY
  • "Meri Beckley lives in a world without lies. When she turns on the news, she hears only the facts. When she swipes the pages of her online textbooks, she reads only the truth. But when Meri’s mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one…
    Book, 2019New York, NY : HarperTeen, [2019] — YA FIC CHARBONNE
  • "A love story that begins in the margins... It's 1994 and thanks to Section 28, there can be no mention of gay relationships in UK schools. When a kind librarian leads Jamie to a disguised novel in the library that reflects his own confused feelings…
    Book, 2024New York : Scholastic Press, 2024. — YA FIC GREEN
  • "Set against a backdrop of literary censorship and growing Jewish political consciousness, The Forbidden Book is a soaring exploration of identity, survival, and ultimately, hope."
    Book, 2024Montclair : Levine Querido, [2024] — YA FIC LAMB
  • "Sheltered small-town teen Rose forms an underground book club for banned books with Talia, an outspoken new kid from New York City."
    Book, 2024New York, NY : Roaring Brook Press, 2024. — J FIC YOUNG
  • You Can't Say That!

    Writers for Young People Talk About Censorship, Free Expression, and the Stories They Have to Tell

    "Sharing candid interviews with 13 top children's and young adult authors who discuss why their books have faced censorship, an historian and critic puts First Amendment challenges into historical context and examines the support network that…
    Book, 2021Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2021. — YA 323.44 YOU
  • "When sixth-grader Mac discovers several words of his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic are blacked out, he is outraged, so he, his friends, and his eccentric family set out to do something about the censorship imposed by one…
    Book, 2022New York : Scholastic Press, 2022. — J FIC KING