Banned Books Week, a week in which publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, publishers and teachers band together to fight censorship, will take place September 27 to October 3 this year.
The theme of this year’s event is Young Adult books, since YA books are often banned. In fact, there were six YA titles on the American Library Association’s Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2014.
“Young Adult books are challenged more frequently than any other type of book,” stated Judith Platt, chair of the Banned Books Week National Committee. “These are the books that speak most immediately to young people, dealing with many of the difficult issues that arise in their own lives, or in the lives of their friends. These are the books that give young readers the ability to safely explore the sometimes scary real world. This Banned Books Week is a call to action, to remind everyone that young people need to be allowed the freedom to read widely, to read books that are relevant for them, and to be able to make their own reading choices.”