“Books unite us, censorship divides us,” is the motto for 2022’s official Banned Books Week, where libraries, booksellers, and their communities come together to stand against censorship and uplift the sharing of diverse ideas. Launched in 1982 and sponsored by a coalition of organizations encompassing writers, teachers, librarians, and booksellers, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to seek and express ideas through writing. The American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, a set of principles to guide library policy in the United States, asserts that “libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.” The Westfield Athenaeum encourages our patrons to explore selected works from the ALA’s challenged book list and to celebrate the sharing of different perspectives and experiences from diverse backgrounds.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This Book is Gay by Juna Dawson
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
George = [Melissa] by Alex Gino
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Beloved by Toni Morrison
1984 by Geoge Orwell
And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
