In a historic move, Utah has recently banned 13 books from public schools, a stark reminder of the ongoing battle for intellectual freedom and the need for diverse voices in literature. At Park City Library, we firmly stand against such censorship and are dedicated to preserving the right to read freely. Our shelves are home to a wide array of materials that celebrate and amplify the perspectives of women, marginalized communities, and LGBTQ+ authors—voices that are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of our world. Guided by the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement, we believe in the power of exploring all ideas, even those that challenge our views. During Banned Books Week, we proudly highlight these stories, ensuring that every individual has access to a variety of literature that fosters growth and understanding. This list highlights some commonly challenged books from the U.S. that the Library has in the teen collection.
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, using e/em/eir pronouns, thought a comic about reading stats would be eir final autobiographical work. It was the only aspect of eir life e felt ready to share. Now, Gender Queer delves into Maia’s self-identity journey, including crushes, coming out, fanfiction, and pap smear trauma. Originally meant to explain eir nonbinary and asexual identity to family, the book has become a heartfelt guide on gender identity for many readers.
A first book by the prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist shares personal essays that chronicle his childhood, adolescence and college years as a Black queer youth, exploring subjects ranging from gender identity and toxic masculinity to structural marginalization and Black joy.
When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.
Sixteen-year-old Miles’ first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
One of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community.
Three brothers struggle to stay together after their parents’ death, as they search for an identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society in which they find themselves “outsiders.”
After witnessing her friend’s death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter’s life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.
Resettled in Los Alamos, New Mexico with her mother and brother, Davey Wexler recovers from the shock of her father’s death during a holdup of his 7-Eleven store in Atlantic City.
Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu is intrigued by a book about two women falling in love. Her curiosity blooms when she and Kathleen Miller enter a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. In 1954 America, especially in Chinatown, their love faces immense danger amid Red-Scare paranoia and threats of deportation hanging over Lily’s father. Despite the risks, Lily and Kath are determined to let their love flourish
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.
A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of Sophie, a fifteen-year-old-girl, as she describes her relationships with a series of boys and as she searches for Mr. Right.
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.
Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
A British author of teen fiction offers basic information about the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience, including terms, religious issues, coming out, and sex acts, for people of all orientations, including the merely curious.
The classic study of human nature which depicts the degeneration of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island.
When the sister who delighted their parents by her faithful embrace of Mexican culture dies in a tragic accident, Julia, who longs to go to college and move into a home of her own, discovers from mutual friends that her sister may not have been as perfect as believed.
Meeting on the ledge of their school’s bell tower, misfit Theodore Finch and suicidal Violet Markey find acceptance and healing that are overshadowed by Finch’s fears about Violet’s growing social world.
A chorus of men who died of AIDS observes and yearns to help a cross-section of today’s gay teens who navigate new love, long-term relationships, coming out, self-acceptance, and more in a society that has changed in many ways.
This blog post was created by librarians from Park City Library with help of information found in NoveList – a database that is free with your library card. NoveList is a comprehensive reading recommendation resource.