Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two very different worlds: one is her home in a poor black urban neighborhood; the other is the tony suburban prep school she attends and the white boy she dates there. Her bifurcated life changes dramatically when she is the only witness to the unprovoked police shooting of her unarmed friend Khalil and is challenged to speak out though with trepidation about the injustices being done in the event’s wake. As the case becomes national news, violence erupts in her neighborhood, and Starr finds herself and her family caught in the middle. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: considered “anti-police” with excess profanity and violence 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby and as an ebook on Hoopla. 

Sixteen-year-old Katniss poaches food for her widowed mother and little sister from the forest outside the legal perimeter of District 12, the poorest of the dozen districts constituting Panem, the North American dystopic state that has replaced the U.S. in the not-too-distant future. Her hunting and tracking skills serve her well when she is then cast into the nation’s annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death where contestants must battle harsh terrain, artificially concocted weather conditions, and two teenaged contestants from each of Panem’s districts. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: deemed “anti-ethic,” “anti-family,” and “occult/satanic” alongside depictions of violence 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby and as an audiobook on Hoopla. 

Julia’s older sister, Olga, was always polite, respected her parents, and eagerly took up the Mexican traditions her mother insisted upon. After Olga dies in a car accident, Julia is thrust into a spotlight she’s not ready for. She’s too angry, too unappreciative, too American, which results in her mother shutting out her social and love life. Then Julia discovers Olga’s trove of secrets, which hint at a hidden life. As Julia pursues the mystery of the real Olga, she begins to find out that more than one of her family members has secrets. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: challenged for profanity and “negative portrayal of religious faith” 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby. 

Felicity is haunted by the ghost of her dead girlfriend, Alex. She’s equally haunted by her research on the Dalloway Five, students of Dalloway School who mysteriously died in impossible circumstances on the grounds of Godwin House, where Felicity has returned to finish senior year–amid rumors that she murdered Alex. Felicity captures the attention of writing prodigy Ellis Haley, who is working on a novel inspired by the Five. Ellis wants Felicity’s help; she’s a strict method writer interested in proving to Felicity that murder is the work of a psychopath, not the dark magic Felicity believes is woven into the fabric of Dalloway. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: challenged in one district as being “patently offensive in the description or depiction of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, sadomasochistic abuse, or excretion” 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby. 

A smiling scar marks the inside of 16-year-old Aaron Soto’s wrist, both a souvenir of the time he tried to follow in his father’s footsteps by checking out of life early and a reminder not to be such a dumbass again. Though his mom has become overprotective and the suicide attempt shambles beside him like an elephant into every room, Aaron is making a comeback, in no small part due to his group of friends and awesome girlfriend, Genevieve. When Gen takes a three-week summer trip, however, Aaron meets Thomas, from the neighboring housing project, and things start to unravel. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: deemed to be “sexually explicit” and “harmful to children” due to depictions of LGBTQIA+ themes and suicide, respectively 

This title is available as an ebook on Libby and as an audiobook on Hoopla. 

(This book is) a powerful work of historical fiction set in New London, Texas, that revolves around events leading up to the horrific 1937 school explosion that killed close to 300 people. This gripping story centers on high-school senior Naomi, a Mexican American girl who recently arrived from San Antonio with her half siblings, twins Beto and Cari, and their father, oil-field worker Henry. Naomi’s struggle to learn how to take care of the household chores is complicated by her dark past with Henry and the overt racism she faces in the segregated town. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: deemed “sexually explicit” and challenged for depictions of abuse 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby and as an ebook on Hoopla. 

In his letters to a never-identified person, 15-year-old Charlie’s freshman high-school year and coming-of-age ring fresh and true. (…) Intellectually precocious, Charlie seems a tad too naive in many other ways, yet his reflections on his family interactions, first date, drug experimentation, first sexual encounter, and regular participation in Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings are compelling. (..) Eventually, he discovers that to be a whole person who knows how to be a real friend rather than a patsy, he must confront his past–and remember what his beloved, deceased Aunt Helen did to him. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: challenged for depictions of teenage sexuality and drug use 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby. 

Having broken up an end-of-summer party by calling the police, high-school freshman Melinda Sordino begins the school year as a social outcast. She’s the only person who knows the real reason behind her call: she was raped at the party by Andy Evans, a popular senior at her school. Slowly, with the help of an eccentric and understanding art teacher, she begins to recover from the trauma, only to find Andy threatening her again. (Booklist) 

Why it was banned: challenged for violence and profanity and deemed to have an “anti-male political agenda” 

This title is available as an ebook and an audiobook on Libby.