Surprisingly Books That Have Been Banned!

Surprisingly – Books that have been banned!

The Dictionary

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

"Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

An immediate and huge bestseller, the classic depicting poverty and the struggles of migrant workers was and often still is banned for obscenity and for the negative light in which the country was painted.

"Sylvester and the Magic Pebble," William Steig

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

The Illinois Police Association, along with 11 other states, tried to get libraries to remove this book in 1977 because it portrays policemen as pigs.

"Beloved," "The Bluest Eye," Toni Morrison

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

The winner of the Nobel Prize in literature has had her books banned for obscene language and gratuitous violence in many parts of the country. The battle isn't over.

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" Bill Martin Jr.

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

This beloved children's book was banned in January 2010 by the Texas Board of Education because the author has the same name as an obscure Marxist theorist, and no one bothered to check if they were actually the same person.

"James and the Giant Peach," "The Witches," Roald Dahl

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

"James" was banned for obscenity and violence, while "The Witches" was banned for sexism and devaluing the life of a child.

"The Diary of a Young Girl," Anne Frank

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

Anne Frank's diary has been banned on multiple occasions. The most recent was in January 2010 when the book was pulled from a Virginia school for "sexually explicit" and "homosexual" themes.

"Little Women," Louisa May Alcott

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

Not easy to figure out why this one was banned, but it may have been that the strongest woman character marries a boring and much older man--counter to feminism.

"A Farewell to Arms," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Ernest Hemingway

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

How times have changed. "A Farewell to Arms" was banned for sexual content and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" because it was seen as pro-communist.

"A Light in the Attic," Shel Silverstein

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

Banned in 1993 at an elementary school in Florida because it "promotes disrespect, horror, and violence," soon became one of the most banned books of the 1990s.

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"A Wrinkle in Time," Madeleine L'Engle

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Both the Merriam Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools. The Merriam Webster was banned in a California elementary school in January 2010 for its definition of oral sex. "It's just not age appropriate," a district representative said.

Mother's Day 2011: Psycho Moms In Literature

Exes On Book Tour For "Heads You Lose" (PHOTOS)

Huffpost Readers' Picks: Books From Childhood You've Never Been Able To Forget (PHOTOS)

Driving With Plato: The Meaning Of Life's Milestones Through The Eyes Of Philosophers (PHOTOS)

Best Books: Huffington Post Editors' Picks (PHOTOS)

11 Most Offensive Comparisons To Hitler (PHOTOS)

Because it's a tale of the battle of good and evil, many were concerned it was making a religious argument they didn't want their children exposed to.