The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Removed in several school systems, including from curricula
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.orgThe UnBanned reading room
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50+ histories, biographies, memoirs, and stories. Browse by audience or search by title and author. Purchases are completed on Bookshop.org; historical records do not imply a current restriction.
The collection
51 books
Stamped from the Beginning
Ibram X. Kendi
Removed from the U.S. Naval Academy library, March 2025.
Source: Naval Academy record Get the book via Bookshop.org
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
Banned 6 times in U.S. schools, 2023–24, including New Hanover County, N.C. (Sept. 2023).
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You
Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi & Sonja Cherry-Paul
Banned in Hernando County, Fla. (Oct. 2023) and Adel DeSoto Minburn, Iowa (June 2024).
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Between the World and Me
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Removed from an AP course at Chapin High School, S.C., 2023
Source: ACLU Get the book via Bookshop.org
The New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander
Restricted in two New Jersey prisons; the ban was reversed in January 2018.
Source: ACLU Get the book via Bookshop.org
Just Mercy
Bryan Stevenson
Removed from a Yorkville, Ill. high-school English course, Aug. 2023.
Source: ACLU Get the book via Bookshop.org
How to Be an Antiracist
Ibram X. Kendi
Removed from the U.S. Naval Academy library, March 2025.
Source: Naval Academy record Get the book via Bookshop.org
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
Isabel Wilkerson
Banned in Texas; also in Cobb County, Ga. schools, Aug. 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Democracy in Black
Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Removed from the U.S. Naval Academy library, March 2025.
Source: Naval Academy record Get the book via Bookshop.org
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Alex Haley
Banned in Shenandoah and West Burlington, Iowa school districts, June 2024.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880
W. E. B. Du Bois
Banned in Lee County, Fla. schools, June 2024.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol
Nell Irvin Painter
Banned in Escambia County, Fla. public schools, Aug. 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary
Juan Williams
Banned in Escambia County, Fla. public schools, Aug. 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Banned in Lake County, Fla. schools (Jan. 2024) and in Elkhorn Area, Wis.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy
Emmanuel Acho
Banned in Okaloosa County, Fla. and Cobb County, Ga. schools, Aug. 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matter
Veronica Chambers
Banned in U.S. schools, 2024–25 (PEN America nonfiction list).
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
What Is Black Lives Matter?
Lakita Wilson
Banned in U.S. schools, 2024–25 (PEN America nonfiction list).
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West
Lillian Schlissel
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Portraits of African-American Heroes
Tonya Bolden
Banned in St. Johns County, Fla. schools, July 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Who Was Maya Angelou?
Ellen Labrecque
Banned in Escambia County, Fla. public schools, Aug. 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Brown Girl Dreaming
Jacqueline Woodson
Banned in U.S. schools, 2024–25 (PEN America nonfiction list).
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
Banned in St. Johns County, Fla. schools, July 2023.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Mighty Miss Malone
Christopher Paul Curtis
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Undefeated
Kwame Alexander
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
Margot Lee Shetterly
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
Vashti Harrison
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History
Vashti Harrison
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Before She Was Harriet
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Carter Reads the Newspaper
Deborah Hopkinson
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Life of Rosa Parks
Kathleen Connors
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Climbing Lincoln's Steps: The African American Journey
Suzanne Slade
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad
F. N. Monjo
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Great Migration: Journey to the North
Eloise Greenfield
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968
Alice Faye Duncan
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Sing a Song: How “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations
Kelly Starling Lyons
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys
Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Henry Aaron's Dream
Matt Tavares
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Thank You, Jackie Robinson
Barbara Cohen
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Dad, Jackie, and Me
Myron Uhlberg
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
We March
Shane W. Evans
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Hey Black Child
Useni Eugene Perkins
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Mae Among the Stars
Roda Ahmed
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra
Andrea Davis Pinkney
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills
Renée Watson
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Freedom in Congo Square
Carole Boston Weatherford
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America
Carole Boston Weatherford
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present
Jamia Wilson
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Javaka Steptoe
Banned in Duval County Public Schools, Fla., January 2022.
Source: PEN America Get the book via Bookshop.org
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane
Carole Boston Weatherford
Banned in Central York School District, Pa., Aug. 2021.
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