In celebration Banned Books Week this October, we’re sharing some of our favourite ‘banned’ books for children and teens! This booklist celebrates our right to read freely by highlighting books that have been banned or challenged around the world.
Don’t worry – they’re not banned in your local Suffolk library, so you can borrow all these and more with your library card!
Want more suggested books? Take a look at our recommendations.
Draw Me a Star
Eric Carle
Draw Me a Star is a colourful and entertaining picture book from Eric Carle, creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, that teaches children about drawing and creativity.
The artist begins by drawing a star, then the star asks him to draw a sun, and the sun asks him to draw a tree and soon the artist has drawn a whole world.
As children follow Eric Carle’s words and pictures, they will learn to understand and enjoy drawing themselves. This is the perfect book to introduce one of the essential creative activities of early childhood.
A tango robi trzy
Justin Richardson
Roy and Silo are just like the other penguin couples at the zoo – they bow to each other, walk together and swim together. But Roy and Silo are a little bit different – they’re both boys.
Then, one day, when Mr Gramzay the zookeeper finds them trying to hatch a stone, he realises that it may be time for Roy and Silo to become parents for real.
In The Night Kitchen
Maurice Sendak
Sendak’s hero Mickey falls through the dark into the Night Kitchen where three fat bakers are making the morning cake. So begins an intoxicating dream fantasy, described by the artist himself as ‘a fantasy ten feet deep in reality’.
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
Dav Pilkey
George and Harold are best friends who enjoy making their own comic books.
Together they’ve created the greatest superhero in the history of their elementary school: Captain Underpants! His true identity is SO secret, even HE doesn’t know who he is!
In celebration of the book’s 25th (and a half!) anniversary, this special edition of The Adventures of Captain Underpants includes an all-new comic by Dav Pilkey, starring Dog Man! Tra-la-laaaaa! It’s can’t-miss fun!
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby
Dav Pilkey
George Beard and Harold Hutchins are two amazing kids.
Not only did they create Captain Underpants, but they’ve saved the world five times!
Now George and Harold bring you an all new superhero who’s faster than a speeding stroller, more powerful than diaper rash, and able to leap tall buildings without making poopy stinkers.
Meet Super Diaper Baby – the most powerful peewee to ever pack a punch.
Bridge to Terabithia
Katherine Paterson
Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the class, but when a girl named Leslie Burke moves into the neighbouring farm his life changes forever. Even though she runs faster than him, Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay – she’s clever and funny and not a bit soppy.
And it is Leslie who invents Terabithia, the secret country on an island across the creek where he can escape his troublesome family. The only way to reach Terabithia is by rope-swing where Jess and Leslie become King and Queen, defeating giants, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against their enemies. They are invincible – until tragedy strikes.
It is more dreadful than anything Jess had ever dreamed of, but as he struggles to cope with his grief and anger, he finds that his family value him more than he’d thought and that, still King, he could even save Terabithia for the future.
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle
The mysterious disappearance of Meg and Charles Murry’s father seems unsolvable, until a chance encounter leads them to realise that they may find answers in the hands of their eccentric neighbours Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which. With the help of Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which, Charles and Meg and their friend Calvin embark on a fantastical journey through a ‘wrinkle in time’ to find their father.
The group encounter weird and wonderful beings such as Aunt Beast and the Happy Medium, but they are put to the test when they find themselves on a dark planet controlled by a mysterious all-powerful evil. Will they find their father and get back to Earth?
The Boy Who Lost His Face
Louis Sachar
CURSED! David was only trying to be cool when he helped some other boys steal an old lady’s cane. But when the plan backfires, he is the one whom she ‘curses’. Now David can’t seem to do anything right. The cool kids taunt him and his only friends are weirdos. He even walks into Spanish class with his fly unzipped! And when he finally gets his nerve up to ask out a cute girl, his trousers fall down midway!
But is this the curse at work or is David turning into a total loser? Another witty and very clever tale by the master storyteller Louis Sachar.
The Curse of Mummy’s Tomb
R.L. Stine
They’re baa-ack! Make way for the bestselling children’s series of all time! With a fresh new look, GOOSEBUMPS is set to scare a whole new generation of kids. So reader beware–you’re in for a scare!
Gabe has just got lost – in a pyramid. One minute his crazy cousin Sari was right ahead of him, the next thing he knows she’s disappeared. But Gabe isn’t alone. Someone else is in the pyramid, too. Is this what is meant by the curse of the mummy’s tomb?
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle.
Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin.
Blubber
Judy Blume
Bullying sucks, but true friendship is worth fighting for. From the author of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume’s Blubber is a sensitive exploration of bullying and self-esteem.
Blubber is a thick layer of fat that lies under the skin and over the muscles of whales…
When Linda innocently reads out her class project, everyone finds it funny. Linda can’t help it if she’s fat, but what starts as a joke leads to a sustained and cruel ritual of humiliation. Jill knows she should defend Linda, but at first she’s too scared. When she eventually stands up to the bullies, she becomes their next victim – and what’s worse, Linda is now on their side…
Wojna czekoladowa
Robert Cormier
The headmaster of Trinity College asks Archie Costello, the leader of the Vigils, a secret society that rules the school, to help with the selling of 20,000 boxes of chocolates in the annual fund-raising effort. Archie sees the chance of adding to his power – he is the Assigner, handing out to the boys tasks to be performed if they are to survive in the school.
Freshman, Jerry Renault, a newcomer to the corrupt regime, refuses to sell chocolates. Enormous mental and physical pressure is put on him but he will not give in – the result is an inevitable, explosive tragedy.
Northern Lights
Philip Pullman
“Without this child, we shall all die.”
Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford.
When Lyra’s friend Roger disappears, she and her daemon, Pantalaimon, determine to find him. The ensuing quest leads them into the bleak splendour of the North, where armoured bears rule the ice and witch-queens fly through the frozen skies. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world…
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mildred Taylor
Cassie Logan can’t understand why her father is so proud of his land and farming his own crops. Her family refuses to sell their fields to a local man despite persistent pressure to do so, but for her parents the land is a symbol of sanctuary. Over the course of a year, Cassie must learn about standing up for what’s right and picking your battles whilst she and her family navigate racism in its various forms; from the ‘night riders’ that terrorise her community, to the everyday prejudice that permeates life in 1930s Mississippi.
‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’ is a powerful story of family, self-respect and strength, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Jim Crow South.
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
Judy Blume
Meet Margaret. She’s going through all the same things most teenage girls have to face; fitting in, friendship and first bras. Life isn’t easy for Margaret. She’s moved away from her childhood home, she’s starting a new school, finding new friends – and she’s convinced she’s not normal.
For a start she hasn’t got a clue whether she wants to be Jewish like her father or Christian like her mother. Everyone else seems really sure of who they are. And, worst of all, she’s a ‘late developer’. She just knows that all her friends are going to need a bra before she does.
It’s too embarrassing to talk to her parents about these things. So she talks to God instead – and waits for an answer.
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
Louise Rennison
Follow Georgia’s hilarious antics as she tries to overcome the dilemma’s that are weighing up against her, and muddle her way through teenage life and all that it entails: how to replace accidentally shaved-off eyebrows; how to cope with Angus, her small labrador-sized Scottish wildcat; her first kiss with Peter – afterwards known as Whelk Boy; annoying teachers; unsympathetic friends and family, and how to entice Robbie the Sex God! Phew – she’s really got her work cut out!
Forever
Judy Blume
Do you remember the first time?
Forever is still the bravest, freshest, fruitiest and most honest account of first love, first sex and first heartbreak ever written for teens. It was a book ahead of its time – and remains, after forty years in print, a teenage bestseller from the award-winning Judy Blume.
With a contemporary cover, Forever is a teen classic ripe for a new generation of readers.
The Giver
Lois Lowry
It is the future. There is no war, no hunger, no pain. No one in the community wants for anything. Everything needed is provided. And at twelve years old, each member of the community has their profession carefully chosen for them by the Committee of Elders.
Twelve-year old Jonas has never thought there was anything wrong with his world. But from the moment he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, Jonas discovers that their community is not as perfect as it seems.
It is only with the help of the Giver, that Jonas can find what has been lost. And it is only through his personal courage that Jonas finds the strength to do what is right…
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
Melinda is an outcast at Merryweather High. Something happened over the summer – something bad – and now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen. So what’s the point in speaking at all?
Through her work on an art project, Melinda is finally able to face what really happened that night. But before she can make peace with the ghosts of the past, she has to confront the reality of the present – and stop someone who still wishes to do her harm.
Only words can save her. She can’t stay silent. Not any more.
Tiger Eyes
Judy Blume
In the aftermath of her father’s murder, Davey’s family is falling apart – but an unexpected connection may help her find her way through grief and loss.
In bestselling author Judy Blume’s most powerful, raw and emotional novel, Tiger Eyes, Davey is struggling to cope with the devastating loss of her father. Her heartbroken mum uproots the family to stay with her prim and proper aunt in Los Alamos, but Davey finds escape by cycling up to the canyon. There, she meets Wolf, a mysterious older boy who is also about to lose someone close to him.
As Davey grapples with the realisation that falling for someone won’t bring her dad back, she must search for a way to piece her fractured family back together again.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
Charlie is not the biggest geek in high school, but he’s by no means popular.
Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is attempting to navigate through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and music – when all one requires to feel infinite is that perfect song on that perfect drive.
Standing on the fringes of life Charlie has a unique perspective of the world around him, but there comes a time to stop being a wallflower and see what it looks like from the dance floor.
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