Challenged and Banned Modern Books

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

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"Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable muggle aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school. Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny."
 
Call Numbers: F ROWLING; JF ROWL
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1641290~S1

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

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"Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear. Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite."

Call Number: TEEN F MEYE
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1958282~S1

The His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman

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"In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however,nothingis as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved."

Call Numbers: SF PULLMAN; TEEN SFPULL; JF PULL
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1543636~S1

The Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey

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"When Dav Pilkey began drawing pictures of an underwear-clad, wedgie-giving superhero as a second grader, his teacher said, "You'd better start taking life more seriously, because you can't spend the rest of your days making silly books!" Luckily for us, Dav didn't listen, and Captain Underpants was born. Now, kids everywhere can enjoy this special edition of the book that started it all--with an awesome lenticular cover and a super-cool value-added component that's so amazing, so fun, and so top-secret that you'll just have to buy it to find out!"

Call Numbers: JF PILK
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1616066~S1

Blubber by Judy Blume

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"Jill goes along with the rest of the fifth-grade class in tormenting a classmate and then finds out what it is like when she, too, becomes a target."
Call Number: JF BLUM
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1039155~S1

The Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine

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"Amanda and Josh move with their parents into an old haunted house located in the strange town of Dark Falls where people are unlike any they have known before."

Call Number: JF STIN
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1560424~S1

Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford

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"The reader follows Waldo as he hikes around the world and must try to find him in the illustrations of some of the crowded places he visits."

Call Number: JPS HAND
Location: http://sflib1.sfpl.org/record=b1117578~S1

What do you think about these books being banned or challenged?

Learn about more banned or challenged books from the last decade: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/
1990_1999/index.cfm


Book Summaries provided by: Syndetic Solutions, LLC