light up the bonfires its book-burning
time welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’re counting down our picks for the
top ten books that were banned for
ridiculous reasons
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’re
covering books that were either
challenged or banned outright for
reasons that don’t make a whole lot of
sense to most people however we’re
excluding any books intended for very
young children and picture books like
Where’s Waldo
number 10 are you there God It’s Me
Margaret Judy Blume this 1970 young
adult novel focuses on all the perils of
growing up as a girl it was considered
revolutionary thanks to its frank
discussion of issues like religion
family and sexuality he called me
Slugger until I got my first training
bra in the book Margaret gets her first
period go shopping for her first bra and
experiences many other common
coming-of-age landmarks dad yeah it
happened what happened however over the
years the book has been challenged or
banned for being quote profane and quote
sexually offensive considering the
book’s goal is to teach young girls
about the issues they will inevitably
have to deal with this seems
short-sighted to say the least
thank you Jesus Oh actually it wasn’t me
it’s okay I am used to it number nine
slaughterhouse-five Kurt Vonnegut in
what is widely considered Kurt
Vonnegut’s most vital work the main
character Billy Pilgrim uses time travel
and a nonlinear storytelling style to
share his tale it looked like the end of
the world what looked like the end of
the world mr. pilgrim president after
the bombing this sci-fi tome was well
received by critics upon its release but
in the year since it’s been challenged
for its so called profanity vulgarity
sexual content and quote mention of
religion in a 1982 Supreme Court case
relating to the removal of
slaughterhouse-five from the libraries
of public schools the court ruled
a book could not be banned simply
because some people disliked its content
yet even today it’s prohibited in many
schools and is challenged regularly
number 8 Harriet the Spy louise Fitzhugh
many children’s books have been banned
for seemingly ludicrous reasons but this
one seems truly unbelievable Harriet the
Spy is a landmark piece of children’s
literature and beloved by many you’re
probably thinking that there isn’t
anything sensitive in this book no
budding sexuality no swear words nada
well the reason it was contested by one
Ohio school board is that it apparently
quote teaches children to lie spy and
backtalk so what luckily this ban did
not go through though other schools and
libraries were indeed successful in
their bids to get it off the shelves
number seven the Diary of a young girl
and Frank considering this memoirs
historical merit and considering how
many school curriculums include it it
seems shocking that anyone would
consider banning it Anne Frank’s diary
has been widely read in the decades
following her death during the Holocaust
it contains her thoughts and feelings
about a wide variety of subjects which
she jotted down while hiding from the
Nazis in an attic in Holland however
considering the book was written by
Frank in the years leading up to her
death at age 15 it does feature the
budding sexuality of a teenaged girl
especially the revised 50th anniversary
edition for this reason some parents and
schools have tried to ban it number 6
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll this children’s novel was
penned by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
better known as Lewis Carroll in 1865 it
took nearly a century after its initial
publication for readers to begin
associating the fantastical tale with
drug culture why don’t you try the
bottle on the table table however
decades before that the Chinese
government actually banned the book for
an entirely different reason officials
did not like the fact that in the story
animals were able to speak using the
same language as humans because quote it
put animals and humans on the same level
it’s just a rabbit with a race coat
number five Lord of the Flies William
Golding William Golding won the Nobel
Prize for Literature
but that didn’t offer his book any
protection from attempted bans Lord of
the Flies tells the story of a group of
schoolboys stranded together on an
island and what happens when they’re
forced to essentially create a new
system of order the takeaway from this
book is that humans can revert to
brutish behavior and do anything to
seize power in 1981 one North Carolina
high school attempted to ban the book
due to the fact that it is quote
demoralizing in that it implies that man
is little more than an animal hey they
managed to encapsulate the intended
theme of the novel pretty well a plus
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
number four 1984 George Orwell most
people are familiar with the premise of
1984 because it was on their assigned
reading list in high school the novel is
a seminal piece of dystopian fiction
that imagines a future where a
totalitarian government has full control
over its citizens lives what’s more it
offers a scathing critique of tyrannical
politicians and totalitarianism which
some people interpreted as a commentary
on Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and
principle the war effort is always
planned to keep society on the brink of
starvation that’s why it’s so ironic
that 1984 was challenged in 1981 by a
group of Florida parents for supposedly
being Pro communists
even so this book’s legacy lives on
thanks to its enduringly pertinent
message and for inspiring phrases like
Orwellian and big brother number three
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury banning a
book that’s about banning books is not
only meta but also comically ironic the
overarching theme of this 50 sci-fi
novel is how damaging censorship can be
to a population in the world of
Fahrenheit 451 all books are banned and
if one is found it has to be burned
immediately by firemen like any other
good work it’s also variety man David
Byrne Miller just a two-storey Wednesday
what Whitman Friday Faulkner of course
that didn’t stop some people from
censoring the book on censorship a
school in Irvine California decided that
rather than banning it they would simply
black out offensive words like hell and
damp to make it suitable for their
students other places did however ban
the book in its entirety failing to see
the irony in their actions number two
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
JK Rowling see this is why we can’t have
nice things
considering the quick rise to global
popularity experienced by the Harry
Potter series it was invariably going to
have its detractors noting the
restricted section
and sure enough despite the fact that
the debut novel is relatively tame in
terms of scares or violence compared to
later books in the series the
Philosopher’s Stone was challenged
citing its themes of magic and
witchcraft some religious groups called
for the book to be banned in some
countries claiming it would endorse
real-life sorcery and promote children’s
interest in the topic
she needs to saw her priorities well we
can’t exactly say they were wrong we’re
still waiting for our Hogwarts letters
number one to kill a mockingbird Harper
Lee this book is widely considered one
of the greatest novels of the past
century and perhaps that’s exactly why
it’s been a lightning rod for
controversy a constant refrain in
battles over Harper Lee’s seminal work
is that the text features racist
language similar to how Mark Twain’s
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also
been challenged for its inclusion of
racial slurs and yeah
To Kill a Mockingbird also includes
slurs but that’s kind of the point the
Pulitzer prize-winning novel dissects
issues of racial inequality in the
American South of the 1930s in a frank
and realistic way she did something that
in our society is unspeakable
she kissed a black man however despite
its literary and artistic merits a
Mississippi school district as recently
as 2017 banned it because it quote made
people uncomfortable do you agree with
our picks check out these other great
clips from WatchMojo and subscribe for
new videos every day
time welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’re counting down our picks for the
top ten books that were banned for
ridiculous reasons
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’re
covering books that were either
challenged or banned outright for
reasons that don’t make a whole lot of
sense to most people however we’re
excluding any books intended for very
young children and picture books like
Where’s Waldo
number 10 are you there God It’s Me
Margaret Judy Blume this 1970 young
adult novel focuses on all the perils of
growing up as a girl it was considered
revolutionary thanks to its frank
discussion of issues like religion
family and sexuality he called me
Slugger until I got my first training
bra in the book Margaret gets her first
period go shopping for her first bra and
experiences many other common
coming-of-age landmarks dad yeah it
happened what happened however over the
years the book has been challenged or
banned for being quote profane and quote
sexually offensive considering the
book’s goal is to teach young girls
about the issues they will inevitably
have to deal with this seems
short-sighted to say the least
thank you Jesus Oh actually it wasn’t me
it’s okay I am used to it number nine
slaughterhouse-five Kurt Vonnegut in
what is widely considered Kurt
Vonnegut’s most vital work the main
character Billy Pilgrim uses time travel
and a nonlinear storytelling style to
share his tale it looked like the end of
the world what looked like the end of
the world mr. pilgrim president after
the bombing this sci-fi tome was well
received by critics upon its release but
in the year since it’s been challenged
for its so called profanity vulgarity
sexual content and quote mention of
religion in a 1982 Supreme Court case
relating to the removal of
slaughterhouse-five from the libraries
of public schools the court ruled
a book could not be banned simply
because some people disliked its content
yet even today it’s prohibited in many
schools and is challenged regularly
number 8 Harriet the Spy louise Fitzhugh
many children’s books have been banned
for seemingly ludicrous reasons but this
one seems truly unbelievable Harriet the
Spy is a landmark piece of children’s
literature and beloved by many you’re
probably thinking that there isn’t
anything sensitive in this book no
budding sexuality no swear words nada
well the reason it was contested by one
Ohio school board is that it apparently
quote teaches children to lie spy and
backtalk so what luckily this ban did
not go through though other schools and
libraries were indeed successful in
their bids to get it off the shelves
number seven the Diary of a young girl
and Frank considering this memoirs
historical merit and considering how
many school curriculums include it it
seems shocking that anyone would
consider banning it Anne Frank’s diary
has been widely read in the decades
following her death during the Holocaust
it contains her thoughts and feelings
about a wide variety of subjects which
she jotted down while hiding from the
Nazis in an attic in Holland however
considering the book was written by
Frank in the years leading up to her
death at age 15 it does feature the
budding sexuality of a teenaged girl
especially the revised 50th anniversary
edition for this reason some parents and
schools have tried to ban it number 6
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll this children’s novel was
penned by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
better known as Lewis Carroll in 1865 it
took nearly a century after its initial
publication for readers to begin
associating the fantastical tale with
drug culture why don’t you try the
bottle on the table table however
decades before that the Chinese
government actually banned the book for
an entirely different reason officials
did not like the fact that in the story
animals were able to speak using the
same language as humans because quote it
put animals and humans on the same level
it’s just a rabbit with a race coat
number five Lord of the Flies William
Golding William Golding won the Nobel
Prize for Literature
but that didn’t offer his book any
protection from attempted bans Lord of
the Flies tells the story of a group of
schoolboys stranded together on an
island and what happens when they’re
forced to essentially create a new
system of order the takeaway from this
book is that humans can revert to
brutish behavior and do anything to
seize power in 1981 one North Carolina
high school attempted to ban the book
due to the fact that it is quote
demoralizing in that it implies that man
is little more than an animal hey they
managed to encapsulate the intended
theme of the novel pretty well a plus
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
number four 1984 George Orwell most
people are familiar with the premise of
1984 because it was on their assigned
reading list in high school the novel is
a seminal piece of dystopian fiction
that imagines a future where a
totalitarian government has full control
over its citizens lives what’s more it
offers a scathing critique of tyrannical
politicians and totalitarianism which
some people interpreted as a commentary
on Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and
principle the war effort is always
planned to keep society on the brink of
starvation that’s why it’s so ironic
that 1984 was challenged in 1981 by a
group of Florida parents for supposedly
being Pro communists
even so this book’s legacy lives on
thanks to its enduringly pertinent
message and for inspiring phrases like
Orwellian and big brother number three
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury banning a
book that’s about banning books is not
only meta but also comically ironic the
overarching theme of this 50 sci-fi
novel is how damaging censorship can be
to a population in the world of
Fahrenheit 451 all books are banned and
if one is found it has to be burned
immediately by firemen like any other
good work it’s also variety man David
Byrne Miller just a two-storey Wednesday
what Whitman Friday Faulkner of course
that didn’t stop some people from
censoring the book on censorship a
school in Irvine California decided that
rather than banning it they would simply
black out offensive words like hell and
damp to make it suitable for their
students other places did however ban
the book in its entirety failing to see
the irony in their actions number two
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
JK Rowling see this is why we can’t have
nice things
considering the quick rise to global
popularity experienced by the Harry
Potter series it was invariably going to
have its detractors noting the
restricted section
and sure enough despite the fact that
the debut novel is relatively tame in
terms of scares or violence compared to
later books in the series the
Philosopher’s Stone was challenged
citing its themes of magic and
witchcraft some religious groups called
for the book to be banned in some
countries claiming it would endorse
real-life sorcery and promote children’s
interest in the topic
she needs to saw her priorities well we
can’t exactly say they were wrong we’re
still waiting for our Hogwarts letters
number one to kill a mockingbird Harper
Lee this book is widely considered one
of the greatest novels of the past
century and perhaps that’s exactly why
it’s been a lightning rod for
controversy a constant refrain in
battles over Harper Lee’s seminal work
is that the text features racist
language similar to how Mark Twain’s
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also
been challenged for its inclusion of
racial slurs and yeah
To Kill a Mockingbird also includes
slurs but that’s kind of the point the
Pulitzer prize-winning novel dissects
issues of racial inequality in the
American South of the 1930s in a frank
and realistic way she did something that
in our society is unspeakable
she kissed a black man however despite
its literary and artistic merits a
Mississippi school district as recently
as 2017 banned it because it quote made
people uncomfortable do you agree with
our picks check out these other great
clips from WatchMojo and subscribe for
new videos every day
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