Books Banned in Virginia

29 banned books

BANNED 167 challenges

1984

by George Orwell

1984 is George Orwell's dystopian novel about Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in the totalitaria...

Political ContentSexual ContentViolence
BANNED 151 challenges

Gender Queer: A Memoir

by Maia Kobabe

Gender Queer is a graphic memoir by Maia Kobabe that explores eir journey with gender identity and sexuality. The book h...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 88 challenges

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about racial injustice in the American South, challenged for its use of racial...

Racial ContentProfanityAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 65 challenges

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain

Mark Twain's 1884 novel about a boy and an escaped slave on the Mississippi River, one of the most banned books in Ameri...

Racial ContentProfanity
BANNED 48 challenges

Fallen Angels

by Walter Dean Myers

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers follows young soldiers in the Vietnam War. One of the most frequently banned books in...

ProfanityViolenceRacial Content
BANNED 43 challenges

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale

by Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, depicting Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, ban...

ProfanityViolenceAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 37 challenges

The Glass Castle

by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls' memoir of growing up with dysfunctional, nomadic parents, challenged for depictions of alcoholism, sexu...

Sexual ContentDrug/Alcohol ContentProfanity
BANNED 35 challenges

The Nowhere Girls

by Amy Reed

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed follows three misfit teenagers who take on their school's rape culture. Banned in multiple...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesProfanity
BANNED 28 challenges

Gone with the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is a sweeping Civil War-era novel challenged for racial slurs, romanticized slav...

Racial ContentSexual ContentProfanity
BANNED 28 challenges

The Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

Anne Frank's diary of hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam, challenged for passages about her body, sexuality, and romanti...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesReligious Objections
BANNED 22 challenges

Let's Talk About It

by Erika Moen & Matthew Nolan

Let's Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan is a graphic guide to sex, relationships, and bodies for teens. One ...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesAge Inappropriateness
BANNED 20 challenges

Saga (Volume 1)

by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Saga (Volume 1) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples is an epic sci-fi/fantasy comic about star-crossed parents from wa...

Sexual ContentLGBTQ+ ThemesViolence
BANNED 18 challenges

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston follows Janie Crawford's search for love and independence in the earl...

Sexual ContentProfanityRacial Content
BANNED 8 challenges

Triangles

by Ellen Hopkins

Three women in their forties navigate crumbling marriages, midlife crises, and the realization that the lives they built...

Sexual Content
BANNED 6 challenges

Little and Lion

by Brandy Colbert

Brandy Colbert's novel about Suzette, a bisexual teen who returns home from boarding school to help her stepbrother Lion...

LGBTQ+ ContentSexual ContentDrug/Alcohol Use
BANNED 5 challenges

Red, White, and Royal Blue

by Casey McQuiston

'Red, White, and Royal Blue...

Sexual Content
BANNED 5 challenges

When Aidan Became a Brother

by Kyle Lukoff

A picture book about Aidan, a transgender boy, who helps his parents prepare for a new baby sibling, making sure they ge...

LGBTQ+ Themes
BANNED 4 challenges

Boy Toy

by Barry Lyga

'Boy Toy...

Sexual Content
BANNED 3 challenges

33 Snowfish

by Adam Rapp

A dark, unflinching novel about homeless and runaway teens surviving on society's margins. Following 10-year-old Custis ...

Sexual Content
BANNED 2 challenges

Fences

by August Wilson

'Fences...

Sexual Content
BANNED 2 challenges

Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression

by Iris Gottlieb

'Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression...

LGBTQ+ Themes
BANNED 1 challenges

A Lesson Before Dying

by Ernest J. Gaines

A powerful novel set in 1940s Louisiana about Jefferson, a falsely-accused young Black man on death row, and Grant, a co...

Sexual Content
BANNED 1 challenges

Anatomy of a Boyfriend

by Daria Snadowsky

'Anatomy of a Boyfriend...

LGBTQ+ ThemesSexual Content
BANNED 1 challenges

Anatomy of a Single Girl

by Daria Snadowsky

'Anatomy of a Single Girl...

Sexual Content
BANNED 1 challenges

Call Me By Your Name (Call Me By Your Name Series)

by André Aciman

A coming-of-age novel set in 1980s northern Italy following 17-year-old Elio Perlman and his intense summer romance with...

Sexual Content
BANNED 1 challenges

Good Trouble: Lessons from the Civil Rights Playbook

by Christopher Noxon

'Good Trouble: Lessons from the Civil Rights Playbook...

Race and RacismPolitical Content
BANNED 1 challenges

I'm A Gay Wizard

by V. S. Santoni

'I'm A Gay Wizard...

LGBTQ+ Themes
BANNED 1 challenges

Tar Baby

by Toni Morrison

'Tar Baby...

Race and Racism
BANNED 1 challenges

The Tale of a Body Thief

by Anne Rice

'The Tale of a Body Thief...

Sexual Content