Freedom to Read's "Challenged Books in Canada"

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"This selective list provides information on more than 100 books that have been challenged in the past 21 years. Each challenge sought to limit public access to the books in schools, libraries, or bookstores. Some challenges were upheld; others were rejected.

Because some challenges are dismissed, the books remain on library shelves or curriculum lists. We think it worthwhile to include such instances because the effect of a controversy over print material can spread, even though the would-be book-banners lose. A book with a controversial reputation tends to be quietly dropped from reading lists and curricula. This interference can be most insidious—quiet acquiescence to the kind of scare tactics that would-be censors know how to employ.

Because organizations and community groups that ask for book and magazine bans generally want to avoid public controversies, it is often difficult to discover why challenges are launched or what becomes of them."

Note: This list is updated by Freedom to Read periodically, so will be changed here, too. It doesn’t include the periodicals they list, or books written in French.

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  1. 1.
    Takes One to Know One: An Allison Kaine Mystery
    by Kate Allen

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  2. 2.
    ?
    Something to Tell
    by Ann Alma

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  3. 3.
    ?
    Anne Boleyn
    by Evelyn Anthony

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  4. 4.
    The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel
    by Margaret Atwood

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  5. 5.
    ?
    Story Makers
    by Rudy Henry Wiebe

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  6. 6.
    ?
    Ouch (Live Oak Readalongs)
    by Natalie Babbitt

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  7. 7.
    In the Heat of the Night
    by John Ball

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  8. 8.
    The Indian in the Cupboard Trilogy
    by Lynne Reid Banks

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  9. 9.
    ?
    Courting Disaster
    by Malcolm J. Barker & T.C. Sobey.

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  10. 10.

  11. 12.
    Baby Be-Bop (Weetzie Bat)
    by Francesca Lia Block

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  12. 13.
    ?
    Impressions
    by Jack Booth & David Booth, eds.

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  13. 14.
    ?
    Who Is Frances Rain?
    by Margaret Buffie

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  14. 15.
    A Clockwork Orange
    by Anthony Burgess

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  15. 18.
    Glory Days and Other Stories
    by Gillian Chan

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  16. 19.
    ?
    We All Fall Down
    by Robert Cormier

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  17. 20.
    Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher: A Magic Shop Book
    by Bruce Coville

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  18. 21.
    ?
    No Place for Me
    by Barthe Declements

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  19. 22.
    Deliverance
    by James Dickey

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  20. 23.
    Hey, Dad!
    by Brian Doyle

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  21. 24.
    ?
    Listen to Me, Grace Kelly
    by “Sandy” Frances Duncan

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  22. 25.
    The Man Sitting in the Corridor (Duras, Marguerite)
    by Marguerite Duras

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  23. 26.
    ?
    Pornography: Men Possessing Women
    by Andrea Dworkin

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  24. 27.
    Woman Hating (Plume)
    by Andrea Dworkin

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  25. 29.
    Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak
    by Deborah Ellis

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  26. 30.
    Asha's Mums
    by Rosamund Elwin

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  27. 31.
    The Wars
    by Timothy Findley

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  28. 34.
    ?
    New American and Canadian Poetry
    by John Gill

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  29. 35.
    Lord of the Flies
    by William Golding

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  30. 37.
    Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel
    by David Guterson

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  31. 38.
    The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
    by Joel Chandler Harris

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  32. 39.
    Black Looks : Race and Representation
    by Bell Hooks

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  33. 40.
    ?
    One Nation Under the Gun
    by Rick Hornung

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  34. 41.
    By Way of Deception
    by Victor Ostrovsky

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  35. 43.
    Hitler's War
    by David Irving

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  36. 44.
    ?
    Inside Stories I
    by Various

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  37. 45.
    Flowers for Algernon
    by Daniel Keyes

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  38. 46.
    Different Seasons (Signet)
    by Stephen King

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  39. 47.
    ?
    Dance Me Outside
    by W. P. Kinsella

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  40. 48.
    Moonkid and Liberty (Gemini Books (Toronto, Ont.).)
    by Paul Kropp

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  41. 49.
    A Little Piece of Ground
    by Elizabeth Laird

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  42. 50.
    ?
    Heroes, Dreams and Incest (unpublished manuscript)
    by Robert Lally

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Created by starlagurl on Apr 17, 2006.
 

Comments

Updates — 49 weeks ago

I just noticed that Freedom to Read changes their list of challenged books…so I added the new ones. There were one or two taken off, but no one had marked them as consumed anyway.
Also, Heroes, Dreams and Incest is an unpublished manuscript, so maybe it shouldn’t be on here, but I left it as is.


Untitled — 1 year ago

Just added a few that were missing and put everything into alphabetical order. Also added a list source.