Challenges in South Carolina
This information is taken from the Banned Books Resource Guide (2014 ed.) by Robert P. Doyle,
published by ALA.
Anonymous.
Go Ask Alice.
1971 Published
1971 Best Books for Young Adults
2008 SC
Challenged as a reading assignment at
Hanahan Middle School in Berkeley
County because of blatant, explicit
language using street terms for sex, talk of
worms eating body parts, and blasphemy.
The book is about a fifteen-year-old girl
who gets caught up in a life of drugs
and sex before dying from an overdose. Its
explicit references to drugs and sex have
been controversial since it was first
published.
Babinski, Edward T.
Leaving the Fold: Testimonials of Former
Fundamentalists.
1995 Published
1995 SC
Challenged, but retained, at the
Anderson County Library, because the
book presented fundamentalism in
a negative light.
Bryant, Sara Cone.
Epaminondas and His Auntie.
1907 Published
1989 SC
Retained, but moved from the children's
section to the folk life section at the
Spartanburg County Library because
"the book's drawings were stereotypical
and demeaning to black people."
Card, Orson Scott.
Ender's Game.
1985 Published
1985 Best Books for Young Adults
1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel
1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel
American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom
www.ala.org/OIF
2012 SC
A teacher at Schoeld Middle School
in Aiken will not face criminal charges
for reading to his students from the
science-ction book. In addition to the
Card novel, which has won several
science-ction awards and is listed on
numerous children's literary review
websites as appropriate for children
twelve and older, the teacher read excerpts
from an Agatha Christie novel and a
young adult novel set in the Old West,
ocials said. The incident came to light
after the materials were characterized
by one student and one parent as
pornographic, according to a press
release issued by the school district.
Childress, Alice.
A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich.
1973 Published
1973 Best Books for Young Adults
1974 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
1974 National Book Award for Young People's
Literature
1994 SC
Challenged at the Lamar Elementary
School library in Darlington by a parent
who stated that "oensive language
in the book makes it unsuitable for
any children."
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier.
My Brother Sam Is Dead.
1974 Published
1975 National Book Award for Young People's
Literature
1975 Newbery Honor Book
1991 SC
Challenged in the Greenville County
Schools because the book uses the
name of God and Jesus in a "vain and
1
profane manner along with inappropriate
Page
sexual references."
 Banned from the Richland Two School
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. District middle school libraries in
With Every Drop of Blood. Columbia due to language problems, but
1994 Published later reinstated for eighth graders only.
1997 SC
Challenged at the Lonnie B. Nelson Cory, Donald Webster.
Elementary School in Columbia Homosexuality in America.
because passages considered racist were 1951 Published
"inappropriate for fth grade." 1989 SC
Returned to shelves of the Horry County
Collignon, Je. School District middle school libraries in
Her Monster. Conway after an attorney advised that
1992 Published the 1988 state health education law did
1997 SC not prohibit books on homosexuality and
Removed from the Lakeview Middle abortion. Other titles temporarily removed
School library in Greenville by the school include: The Abortion Controversy in
district administrator because the book's America, by Carol Emmens; Kids Having
sexual content "is inappropriate for Kids, by Janet Bode; and Who They
middle school students." Are: The Right-to-Lifers, by C. Paige.

Conroy, Pat. Coville, Bruce.

The Prince of Tides. The Dragonslayers.
1986 Published 1994 Published
1988 SC 1995 SC
Removed as a reading assignment for an Challenged in the Berkeley County School
advanced English class at the St. Andres District because of the witchcraft and
Parish Public School because it is "trashy deception and because a main character
pulp pornography." Following the challenge, openly disobeys his parents.
the school board passed a resolution
urging teachers to "use professional Crutcher, Chris.
judgement and discretion in selecting Athletic Shorts.
works...which...contain passages which 1991 Published
most people would nd abhorrent." 1992 Best Books for Young Adults
1995 SC
Conroy, Pat. Challenged at the Charleston County
The Water Is Wide. School library because the books
1987 Published deals with divorce, violence,
1991 SC
Challenged in the Greenville County Crutcher, Chris.
schools because the book uses the name Whale Talk.
of God and Jesus in a vain and profane 2001 Published
manner along with inappropriate 2002 Best Books for Young Adults
sexual references. 2005 SC
Removed from the suggested reading
Cormier, Robert. list for a pilot English-literature
The Chocolate War. curriculum by the superintendent of the
1974 Published South Carolina Board of Education.
2

1974 Best Books for Young Adults

Page

1984 SC

American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom

www.ala.org/OIF
Ehrlich, May. Guest, Judith.
Where It Stops, Nobody Knows. Second Heaven.
1988 Published 1983 Published
1998 SC 1991 SC
Removed from the Cayce-West Columbia Challenged in the Greenville County schools
School Districts Congaree Elementary because the book uses the name of God
School library because of a blasphemy and and Jesus in a vain and profane manner
slang term for sex. along with inappropriate sexual references.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Johnston, Julie.

The Great Gatsby. Adam and Eve and Pinch-me.
1925 Published 1994 Published
1987 SC 1997 SC
Challenged at the Baptist College in Challenged at the Greenville middle
Charleston because of language school libraries because the book uses
and sexual references in the book. objectionable language like damn
Source: 11, July 1987, p. 133. and jerk-ass.

Garca Mrquez, Gabriel. Klein, Norma.

One Hundred Years of Solitude.
1967 Published
1982 Nobel Prize in Literature
1990 SC
Removed from the Advanced Placement
English reading list at St. Johns High School
in Darlington because of profane language.
Going, K. L.
Fat Kid Rules the World.
2003 Published
2004 Best Books for Young Adults
2004 Michael L. Printz Award
2007 SC
Removed from the Pickens County
middle- and high-school library shelves
because the language, the sexual
references, and drug use are not appropriate
for middle-school students.
Greene, Bette.
The Drowning of Stephan Jones.
1991 Published
2002 SC
Banned in the Horry County School
District Board middle school libraries
because the book is educationally unsuitable
and contains unacceptable language.
Beginners Love.
1983 Published
1999 SC
Challenged, but retained, in the
Chester High School library with the
provision that parents can instruct the
school not to let their own children
borrow it. The books graphic description
of sex, discussions of abortion, and
the characters use of marijuana were
considered objectionable by some parents.
South Carolina Attorney General
Charlie Condon ruled that the school
board could reasonably conclude that the
novel was pervasively vulgar and
educationally unsuitable and, thus,
removal by the board would not violate
the First Amendment.
Kushner, Ellen.
Mystery of the Secret Room.
1986 Published
1992 SC
Challenged at the Berkeley County
school libraries because the book
teaches witchcraft.
Lipsyte, Robert.
3

One Fat Summer.

Page

1977 Published
1997 SC

American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom

www.ala.org/OIF
Challenged at the Greenville middle Park, Barbara.
school libraries because the book includes Mick Harte Was Here.
a passage on masturbation. 1995 Published
1998 SC
Lott, Bret. Challenged, but retained, at the Liberty
The Hunt Club. Middle School Library in Seneca after a
1998 Published seventh graders grandmother complained
2011 SC to school officials.
Challenged as one option for the
required summer reading at Wando High Peck, Robert Newton.
School in Mount Pleasant because it A Day No Pigs Would Die.
uses foul language, degrades women, 1972 Published
and people of color. The novel is set in 1972 Best Books for Young Adults
the South Carolina low country and tells 1995 SC
the story of a teenage boy and his uncle Pulled from an Anderson middle school
who find a dead body and have to figure library because of the gory descriptions
out what happened. of two pigs mating, a pig being
slaughtered, and a cow giving birth.
Lowry, Lois.
Anastasia Krupnik. Pike, Christopher.
1981 Published Remember Me.
1998 SC 1989 Published
Removed from the Cayce-West Columbia 1998 SC
School Districts Congaree Elementary Removed from the Liberty Middle
School library because of Lowrys use of a School library in Seneca after a
vulgarity for human waste, as well as the seventhgraders grandmother complained to
use of a slang term for sex. school officials.
Source: 11, Mar. 1987, p. 49; Jan. 1992, p.
26; Mar. 1993, Prelutsky, Jack.
p. 45; May 1993, p. 87; Mar. 1999, p. 36. Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep.
1976 Published
Moore, Alan. 1993 SC
Neonomicon. Removed from the Berkeley County
2010 Published schools that include fourth graders and
2012 SC younger children due to violent passages.
Banned at the Greenville County Public
Library after a patrons teenage daughter Rhyne, Nancy.
checked it out of the librarys adult Murder in the Carolinas.
section. The teenage girl was given an 1990 Published
adult library card, which allowed her to 1992 SC
check out adult-themed books. The head Removed from the Berkeley County
of the library system overturned an elementary and middle school libraries
internal review committees decision to because the bookreal-life stories of
retain the graphic novel because the South Carolina murders based on newspaper
pictures gave her pause. accountscontained descriptions
of actual murders that were too graphic
for young readers.
4
Page

American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom

www.ala.org/OIF
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
1999 Published
1999 British Childrens Book Award
2000 Best Books for Young Adults
1999 SC
Challenged in South Carolina
schools because the book has a serious
tone of death, hate, lack of respect,
and sheer evil.
2000
Retained in the Durham School District,
Ontario, Canada, after a challenge of the
series because of concerns about witchcraft.
2000
Banned from the Christian Outreach
College library in Brisbane, Australia,
because the book was considered violent
and dangerous.
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
1999 Published
1999 Whitbread Book of the Year Award
2000 Best Books for Young Adults
2000 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
1999 SC
Challenged in South Carolina schools
because the book has a serious
tone of death, hate, lack of respect,
and sheer evil.
2000
Retained in the Durham School District,
Ontario, Canada, after a challenge of
the series because of concerns about
witchcraft.
2000
Banned from the Christian Outreach
College library in Brisbane, Australia
because the book was considered violent
and dangerous.
Salinger, J. D.
Catcher in the Rye.
1951 Published
2001 SC
Removed by a Dorchester District 2
school board member in Summerville
because it is a filthy, filthy book.
American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom
www.ala.org/OIF
Sapphire.
Push.
1996 Published
2011 SC
Challenged on an extracurricular reading
list in the Horry County school library. The
1996 novel is based on the story of Precious
Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, who
grows up in poverty. Precious is raped
by her father, battered by her mother, and
dismissed by social workers. The story
follows Precious, pregnant with a second
child by her father, through her journey
of learning how to read and be on her
own. The novel was made into a critically
acclaimed movie, Precious, in 2009, which
received six Oscar nominations, including
Best Picture, for the 82nd Academy
Awards and Sundance Film Festival praise.
Shakespeare, William.
Romeo and Juliet
(No Fear Shakespeare).
2003 Published
2012 SC
Some parents in Liberty were furious
about the book their kids were reading in
middle school. They say it was too mature
for their kids because of the sex. The
book in question presents the original
text of Shakespeares play side by side with
a modern version, with marginal notes
and explanations and full descriptions of
each character.
Spencer, Scott.
Endless Love.
1979 Published
1991 SC
Banned from the Berkeley County High
School media center because of explicit
pornographic passages and adult material
for teenage readers.
1670
Steig, William.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
5
1969 Published
Page
1970 Caldecott Medal
1970 National Book Award for Young
Peoples Literature Walker, Margaret.
1970 SC Jubilee.
Challenged in South Carolina. 1966 Published
1966 Best Books for Young Adults
Steinbeck, John. 1977 SC
East of Eden. Challenged in the Greenville County
1952 Published school libraries by the Titan of the Fourth
1962 Nobel Prize in Literature Province of the Knights of the Ku Klux
1991 SC Klan because the novel produces racial
Challenged in the Greenville schools strife and hatred.
because the book uses the name
of God and Jesus in a vain and profane Webb, James.
manner along with inappropriate Fields of Fire.
sexual references. 1979 Published
1988 SC
Steinbeck, John. Challenged at the Fort Mill High School
Grapes of Wrath. because the book contains offensive
1939 Published language and explicit sex scenes. School
1940 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction officials decided to retain the novel, but to
1991 SC explore the possibility of setting up a
Challenged in the Greenville schools restricted shelf for controversial books.
because the book uses the name
of God and Jesus in a vain and profane
manner along with inappropriate
sexual references.

Steinbeck, John.
Of Mice and Men.
1937 Published
1977 SC
Challenged in Greenville by the
Fourth Province of the Knights of the
Ku Klux Klan.

6
Page

American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom

www.ala.org/OIF