Banned book week recommendations: Pick up one of these titles about about gender, race and sexuality

Published September 21, 2022 at 11:20 AM CDT

Banned books are visible at the Central Library, a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library system, in New York City on Thursday, July 7, 2022. The books are banned in several public schools and libraries in the U.S., but young people can read digital versions from anywhere through the library. The Brooklyn Public Library offers free membership to anyone in the U.S. aged 13 to 21 who wants to check out and read books digitally in response to the nationwide wave of book censorship and restrictions. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

For Banned Books week, Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with “The Stacks” creator and host Traci Thomas about some of the books that topped the banned books list in 2021 as well as a couple of classic titles that also have been challenged.

Banned book recommendations from ‘The Stacks’ host Traci Thomas:

“Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
“All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto” by George M. Johnson
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“Maus” by Art Spiegelman
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
“Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America” by Ibram X. Kendi
“Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison
“Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
“This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson
“New Kid” by Jerry Craft
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
“Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out” by Susan Kuklin

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.