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  • General Recommendations
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Freedom to Read Week: October 5-11, 2025

Below are a few titles tackling intellectual freedom, integral to a healthy democracy. Also included are titles that, according to the American Library Association, have been the "most challenged" in the last year.

User from Tacoma Public Library

18 items

  • Banned Together

    Our Fight for Readers' Rights

    Features 15 authors and illustrators spotlighting the transformative power of books while equipping readers to fight for the freedom to read.
    Book, 2025New York : Holiday House, [2025] — Y 025.213 BANNED 2025
  • Together with Tiger, the talking tabby cat, 13-year-old Nanami sets out to discover what's really going on behind the disappearing library books.
    Book, 2025New York, NY : HarperVia, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2025. — F NATSU-S
  • On the night before her wedding, 17-year-old Sorel leaps from a window and runs away from her life. To keep from being discovered, she takes on identity of Isser Jacobs — but it soon becomes clear that there is a real Isser Jacobs, and people want…
    Book, 2024Montclair : Levine Querido, 2024. — YF LAMB-S
  • At school, Noor discovers that hundreds of books are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors. Can Noor effect change by speaking up?
    Book, 2024New York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2024. — YF AHMED-S
  • 1984

    the Graphic Novel

    Nesti, Fido, 1971-
    Graphic novel adaptation. Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare…
    Graphic Novel, 2021New York, NY : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. — GN ORWEL
  • In a series of personal essays, the prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.
    Book, 2020New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2020. — Y 306.7662 JOHNSON 2020
  • Graphic novel autobiography about the author's students days under an authoritarian regime, and how she defied state censorship. Available as an eBook.
    Graphic Novel, 2020Chicago, IL : Iron Circus Comics, 2020. — YG 363.3109 K5603B 2020
  • Graphic novel. As Aiden navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
    Graphic Novel, 2020New York, NY : Henry Holt and Company, 2020. — YG FLAME
  • Graphic novel autobiography. More than a personal story, 'Gender Queer' is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere. Available in multiple formats.
    Graphic Novel, 2019[St. Louis, Missouri] : Lion Forge, LLC, 2019. — YG 306.76 KOBABE 2019
  • Graphic novel adaptation. In the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, women are no longer allowed to read and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction.
    Graphic Novel, 2019New York : Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, [2019] — GN ATWOO
  • A classic. Fireman Guy Montag's job is to burn books, but his worldview begins to change as he learns more from his neighbor, Clarisse McClellan.
    Book, 2013New York : Simon & Schuster, 2013. — SCI BRADB-R
  • Greg Gaines has managed to get on without any close friends, until his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia. Available in multiple formats.
    Book, 2012New York : Amulet Books, 2012. — YF ANDRE-J
  • Five moving stories that interweave to tell a larger, powerful story—a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. Available as an eAudiobook.
    Book, 2009New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009. — YF HOPKI-E
  • A classic. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, 11-year-old Pecola Breedlove yearns for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Available in multiple…
    Book, 2007New York : Vintage International, 2007. — F MORRI-T
  • Sold into prostitution, 13-year-old Lakshmi forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Available as an eAudiobook.
    Book, 2006New York : Hyperion, [2006] — YF MCCOR-P
  • Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
    Book, 2005New York : Dutton Children's Books, 2005. — YF GREEN-J
  • In 'Crank' you’ll meet Kristina, a high school junior—and Kristina will meet crank. Acting under the guise of her alter ego, Bree, Kristina explores drugs, sex, and her own dark side. Available as an eAudiobook.
    Book, 2004New York : Simon Pulse, 2004. — YF HOPKI-E
  • More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world that he shares. Available in multiple formats.
    Book, 1999New York : Pocket Books, c1999. — YF CHBOS-S