Banned Book Week has come and gone this year, and from it, we’re reminded of new and classic titles banned over the years. This year has added thousands more to the list. Wondering what Banned Book Week is, or why books are banned? Here are the top 2025 titles and the collective effort to ensure these books are available and remembered for those who want to read them.

A look into Banned Book Week

Originally launched by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982, Banned Book Week is a campaign that highlights challenged books and draws attention to censorship in schools, libraries and communities. The event is typically held during the last week of September and aims to call attention to the importance of free speech and access to open and free information. 

ALA has named this year’s event “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights”, announcing, “With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale 1984 serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. This year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights.”

PEN America, a non-profit organization that works to defend freedom of expression and speech for readers and writers, by fighting censorship since its foundation in 1922, published a list of banned titles from the 2024-2025 academic year on October 1. The list includes a classic dystopian novel from 1962 and several books from A Court of Thorns and Roses, a series by Sara J. Maas. 

What Is a Banned Book?

PEN describes a banned book as “Any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by governmental officials, that leads to a book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished.”

At the top of PEN’s list is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. This year, the novel had 23 bans targeting its depiction of sexual violence and complex themes of rehabilitation, free will and state control. Not originally published for an intended age group, youth culture at that time was quickly drawn to the book, jumpstarting its longstanding criticism by those who feel the book is inappropriate to be studied and read by a younger audience, often those in high school.

Tied with 20 bans on PEN’s list are Breathless by Jennifer Niven and Sold by Patricia McCormick, both coming-of-age stories, challenged for their sexual and mature content. Also on the list are two titles from the popular romantasy series A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sara J. Maas, with A Court of Mist and Fury at number five with 18 bans and the first book in the series A Court of Thorns and Roses, at number ten with 16 bans. 

The Banning Continues

With 6,870 titles added to the banned book list during the 2024-2025 academic year, NPR reports that this number is down from 10,046 the previous year but up from the average 3,000 bans seen in the past five years. 

At this increase, PEN says, “Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide.”

Books have been banned and censored for centuries; in fact, the first recorded effort was in 1637 with Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan. This book was banned and publicly burned for its criticism of Puritan customs. Book bans aren’t new, but the conversation surrounding censorship is vital, and initiatives like Banned Book Week provide it with the soapbox it deserves.