Free societies read freely!
The ACLU of Iowa is dedicated to preserving our First Amendment to decide for ourselves what we read, view, and hear—a fundamental element of free speech and expression.
Banned Books Week is observed annually in late September to celebrate the First Amendment and draw attention to the censorship of literature in public schools. This year, the ACLU of Iowa is honored to partner with the Iowa Library Association in promoting materials and educating on the topic of banned books in Iowa.
GET FREE PRINTABLE BANNED BOOKS IN IOWA BOOKMARKS
The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracks books that have been challenged, often by parents of students, to be removed from public and school libraries. Classic books such as Brave New World and The Catcher in the Rye, and newer titles, such as the Gossip Girl series and Twilight, have been on "challenged" lists for reasons including explicit language, sexual content and violence. See a more extenstive listing of challenged books in Iowa below.
Orange City has been a recent hot spot. In 2018, a petition was circulated in Orange City, demanding that the local library segregate and label books and content that have any LGBTQ content and halt acquisition of any more. The library has since simply revised its overall classification of books by topic rather than author. Later that year, a man objecting to children's books at the library with LGBTQ content burned them and shared a video of it in social media.
In other cases, specific books have been challenged. The following is a listing of books that been challenged since 2005 in Iowa libraries because they contained sex, homosexuality, swear words, or mentions of suicide or drug use. We are happy to report that none of them were successfully removed
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| Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Challenged for containing themes of sex and suicide |
Becoming Sister Wives by Kody Brown Challenged for referencing the concept of polygamy |
Buster's Sugartime by Marc Brown Challenged for featuring a lesbian couple |
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| I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Challenged for references to drugs and sex |
It's a Book by Lane Smith Challenged for use of the word "jackass" |
The Notebook Girls by Julia Baskin Challenged for age-appropriateness |
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| Vampires, Werewolves & Zombies by Lisa Regan Challenged for age-appropriateness |
Playing Without the Ball by Rich Wallace Challenged for containing sex |
Fired: Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized, and Dismissed by Annabelle Gurwitch Challenged for unknown reasons |
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| The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien Challenged for the liberal use of the word "fuck" and drug references |
And Tango Makes Three by John Richardson and Peter Parnell Challenged for containing themes of homosexuality |
Hoops by Robert Burleigh Challenged for the use of the word "nigger" |
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| What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges Challenged for referencing oral sex |
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty Challenged for referencing sex |
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty Challenged for referencing sex |
 by Sherman Alexie Challenged in 2015 for coarse language, masturbation references |
 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Challenged in 2016 for sexual references and “adult” situation |
