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Banned Books

Libro.fm is dedicated to ensuring representation in books and resisting book bans, exclusion, and censorship. Check out this list of the most frequently banned and challenged books on audio.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
I Am Malala
Malala Yousafzai
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I Am Malala

By: Malala Yousafzai

Narrated by: Archie Panjabi

Length: 9 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

As seen on Netflix with David Letterman
"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to... Read more

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All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
All American Boys
Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

All American Boys

By: Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

Narrated by: Guy Lockard & Keith Nobbs

Length: 6 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature.

In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided... Read more

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Bookseller pick
Melissa (previously published as GEORGE) by Alex Gino
Melissa (previously published as GEORGE)
Alex Gino
Melissa (previously published as GEORGE) by Alex Gino

Melissa (previously published as GEORGE)

By: Alex Gino

Narrated by: Jamie Clayton

Length: 3 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

BE WHO YOU ARE.When people look at Melissa, they think they see a boy named George. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.Melissa thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. Melissa really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the... Read more

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Bookseller pick
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give

By: Angie Thomas

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 11 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best  ·  William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller!""Absolutely riveting!"" —Jason Reynolds""Stunning."" —John Green""This story is necessary. This story is important."" —Kirkus (starred... Read more

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Bookseller pick
The 1619 Project by Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
The 1619 Project
Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
The 1619 Project by Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein

The 1619 Project

By: Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein

Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones & Full Cast

Length: 18 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire
 
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of... Read more

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh, Cecilia Noble, Full Cast, Indie Gj...

Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Maya Angelou's poignant, powerful autobiography, starring Adjoa Andoh, Indie Gjesdal and Pippa Bennett-Warner.

Abandoned by their parents, Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their grandmother and uncle in the small Southern town of Stamps in Arkansas. Struggling with rejection, they endure the... Read more

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Maya Angelou

Length: 10 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: No

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute... Read more

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New Kid by Jerry Craft
New Kid
Jerry Craft
New Kid by Jerry Craft

New Kid

By: Jerry Craft

Narrated by: Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, Guy...

Length: 1 hour 58 minutes

Abridged: No

2020 Audie Awards® Finalist—Middle GradeWinner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature, and an Audie Award finalist!
An original full-cast audio adaptation of the graphic novel from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft, performed by the author with Jesus Del Orden, Nile... Read more

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The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
The New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow

By: Michelle Alexander

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

Length: 16 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow.Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has beenadopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation ofthe Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been thewinner of... Read more

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The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones & Renée Watson
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
Nikole Hannah-Jones & Renée Watson
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones & Renée Watson

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water

By: Nikole Hannah-Jones & Renée Watson

Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones

Length: 23 minutes

Abridged: No

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse, adapted for audio, chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson.


A young student receives a family tree assignment in... Read more

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Bookseller pick
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye

By: Toni Morrison

Narrated by: Toni Morrison

Length: 7 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature.

It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove--a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others--who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so... Read more

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Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Felix Ever After
Kacen Callender
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Felix Ever After

By: Kacen Callender

Narrated by: Logan Rozos

Length: 8 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All TimeFrom Stonewall and Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He... Read more

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Conversations on book bans

Check out our interview with Kelly Jensen of Book Riot and Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me in a Crown.

Listen to our episode with Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks, Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy, Nicole Lintemuth, owner of Bettie’s Pages, and Martha Hickson, a high school librarian in Annandale, NJ.

Portrait of Kelly and Leah

Fight book bans in your district

Read more tips from Kelly and Leah on combating bans.

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Collage of bookstores

How bookstores are fighting bans

In addition to raising awareness about banned books through creative displays and handselling to customers, many are going above and beyond.

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The Right to Read Handbook

Check out the American Bookseller Association's comprehensive guide to fighting book bans through local organizing and engaged citizenship.

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Resources to fight against book bans

Want to join the fight against book bans and challenges? Check out these organizations and resources to learn more about what you can do to take action.

Learn about bills being passed.

By seeing what bills at a local, state, and national level are impacting book bans, we can better take action.

Track bills

Contact your legislators.

Show your support for the freedom to read by contacting your political reps.

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Get involved at your local school.

Show up to school board meetings, library board meetings, and consider running for a role.

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