The first of several memoirs on this list, Maya Angelou’s seminal work chronicles her childhood and fledgling adulthood. From the unspoken racial caste system of a hardscrabble small southern town, to horrifying sexual abuse in St. Louis, to finding freedom in art and words in San Francisco, Angelou holds nothing back in this hard, yet hopeful, account. While I wouldn’t recommend reading this to your kindergartner at bedtime, Angelou’s honest account of her childhood is a time capsule for black personhood in the early-to-mid-20th century.

In a fictional future version of the United States called the Republic of Gilead, Offred (“Of Fred”) lives a subservient life to the Commander. With declining birth rates and extreme sexual sequestration, Gilead came up with a solution: handmaids. Handmaids are the only women allowed to procreate in the new society where women cannot read, rule, or choose happiness for themselves. Banned for vulgarity and “sexual overtones,” this satirical (yet cautionary) tale imagines a world of sexual purity gone too far.

This memoir told in comic form is equal parts funny, exasperating, and comic. The daughter of an English teacher/funeral director, Alison’s childhood experiences are unique to to say the least. Bechdel learns as an adult that her father was gay, but only after his death. As an adult lesbian herself, the journey to understand her father better resulted in this unique and heartfelt graphic memoir. Now a Tony-award winning musical, Fun Home’s challenge was ostensibly for “violence,” but the LGBTQIA+ content challenges some readers.

At the Catholic all boy’s Trinity school, the yearly fundraiser to sell chocolate is as sacred as God. Every boy must participate. Jerry Renault, an unremarkable freshman struggling with his mother’s recent death, runs afoul of a powerful group called The Vigils and the vindictive vice principal Brother Leon by his refusal to participate. Ironically, its challenges for “sexual explicit content” and “offensive language” are exactly why this book so perfectly encapsulates the teen experience.

George M. Johnson chronicled his upbringing as a black, queer boy in New Jersey and Virginia. The story covers everything from brutal beatings, to budding romance, to the pressures of toxic masculinity, to self-identification at an early age. The writing is perfectly geared towards its Young Adult audience without sacrificing heart and depth. Published in 2020, All Boys Aren’t Blue is already on track to be one of the most challenged books from 2020-2029, as it’s been in the top 3 two years running.

12-year-old Amir has everything he could want in 1970s Afghanistan except one thing: a winning turn in the local kite fighting championship. But when his best friend Hassan is brutally attacked, the aftereffects of Amir’s inaction follow him through adulthood and beyond. Challenged for “promoting Islam,” Hosseini’s masterpiece paints a nuanced portrait of a region and a culture widely demonized by the western world.

Toni Morrison’s first work is a searing, heartbreaking, thought-provoking debut. Sadly, it’s as relevant today as it was upon publication in 1970. Young Percola Breedlove feels ostracized and unloved for her dark skin and fostered parentage – so she longs for blue eyes, the ultimate source of belonging. Morrison plays with literary form and structure in really creative ways, bending timelines and perspectives to her strong and subtle will. In an interesting twist, The Bluest Eye is one of the few classics that has been more challenged over time, not less.

In this searing novel, Thomas imagines the death of a black teenager from the perspective of his best friend, Starr. After witnessing Khalil’s death, Starr begins to question the world around her. She questions the chasm between her mostly-Black neighborhood and the mostly-white suburban school she attends. Also, the protection the police claim to provide versus the Black relationship to the police. Finally, the choice between using her voice or staying safe. This acclaimed book-turned-movie faces continued challenges for “indoctrination” and “anti-police rhetoric.”

Told through a series of letters, The Color Purple follows a young woman named Celie over 20 years. It also follows her relationships with the women in her life, from her beloved sister Nettie to her friend Sofia to the glamorous Shug Avery. All four women are broken by the men who take advantage of them. Then, made whole again by the strength of their friendships. Despite being a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, the physical and sexual abuse have caused many challenges.

For all of her young life, Jeannette Walls’s father promised to one day build them a Glass Castle. But the family dreams were hampered by her father’s rampant alcoholism and her mother’s complete disdain for the domestic. Shuttled from untenable home to untenable home, the siblings were forced to fend for themselves. Yet, their life had a certain wonder and poignant beauty. You feel the dizzy, mercurial pull of the Walls family throughout the novel. Simultaneously horrified by their lack of basic resources and entranced by the freedom and creativity.