This is an important week for book lovers. It’s Banned Books Week, an annual event coordinated by The Office of Intellectual Freedom (a division of The American Library Association), that “highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community—librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers and readers of all types—in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.”

Launched in 1982 in response to an increase in the number of challenges, the campaign remains as relevant as ever today. Over 4,240 unique titles were targeted for banning last year (here’s a list of the top 10 from 2023) that range from classic literature to more modern texts. For this year’s event, filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been named Honorary Chair, leading the campaign with the theme “Freed Between the Lines.” DuVernay will be joined by Youth Honorary Chair Julia Garnett, a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee.

But DuVernay isn’t the only filmmaker taking an interest in banned books. These frequently challenged books from over the years caught the eye of Hollywood and made their way onto the big screen.

Check many of them out on Kanopy, the streaming video service from your library or borrow the book on the Libby app.

Movie: Maurice starring Rupert Graves, James Wilby, and Hugh Grant
Book: Maurice by E. M Forster
🎧 Audiobook

Though Forster completed Maurice in 1914, he left instructions for it be published only after his death. Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, this is a story of coming to terms with one's sexuality and identity in the face of disapproval and misunderstanding. The 1987 film adaptation was nominated for Best Costume Design at the Academy Awards.

Movie: Lord of the Flies starring Tom Chapin, James Aubrey, and Hugh Edwards
Book: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
🎧 Audiobook

This iconic novel from 1954 centers around a plane crash, stranding a group of schoolboys who hoped for adventure and freedom, but found something much different. In the hands of the renowned experimental theater director Peter Brook, Golding’s legendary novel about the primitivism lurking beneath civilization becomes a film as raw and ragged as the lost boys at its center.

Movie: Catch-22 starring Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, and Martin Sheen
Book: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
🎧 Audiobook

Set during World War II, this satirical war novel remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the funniest—and most celebrated—books of all time. Oscar-winner Mike Nichols superbly directs this cinematic adaptation of Joseph Heller's scathing black comedy about a small group of pilots in the Mediterranean in 1944.

Movie: Lolita starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Griffith, and Dominique Swain
Book: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
🎧 Audiobook

The most famous and controversial novel from one of the greatest writers of the 20th century tells the story of Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the young Dolores Haze. The 1997 adaptation of the classic tells a disturbing tale of tortured and forbidden love.

Movie: Sophie’s Choice starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Rita Karin
Book: Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
🎧 Audiobook

Winner of the National Book Award and a modern classic, Sophie’s Choice centers on three characters: Stingo, a sexually frustrated aspiring novelist; Nathan, his charismatic but violent Jewish neighbor; and Sophie, an Auschwitz survivor who is Nathan’s lover. Their entanglement in one another’s lives will build to a stirring revelation of agonizing secrets that will change them forever. The 1982 movie adaptation was an Academy Award winner.

Movie: 1984 starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, and Suzanna Hamilton
Book: 1984 by George Orwell
🎧 Audiobook

As literary political fiction, 1984 is considered a classic novel of the social science fiction subgenre. Since its publication in 1949, many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, and memory hole, have become contemporary vernacular. The film was released in 1984 and stars Richard Burton in his final feature film performance.

Movie: Harry Potter (1-7) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Richard Harris
Book: Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
🎧 Audiobook

Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin! Having become classics of our time, the Harry Potter stories bring a message of hope, belonging, and the enduring power of truth and love. Each of the 7 books in the series has been made into a movie (release dates 2001-2011).

Movie: A Wrinkle in Time starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling
Book: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
🎧 Audiobook

This ground-breaking science fiction and fantasy classic is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe. They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem. A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. The film version was released by Disney in 2018.

TV series: Thirteen Reasons Why starring Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, and Christian Navarro
Book: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
🎧 Audiobook

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are 13 reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why. The TV series was released on Netflix in 2017.

Movie: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close starring Scott Rudin, Tom Hanks, and Sandra Bullock
Book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
🎧 Audiobook

A funny, uplifting novel about a boy's journey through New York in the aftermath of September 11. With humor, tenderness and awe, Jonathan Safran Foer confronts the traumas of our country's difficult history. The film made its debut in 2011.

Movie: Of Mice and Men starring Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, and Ray Walston
Book: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
🎧 Audiobook

Over 75 years since its first publication, Steinbeck's tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss remains one of America's most widely read and taught novels. The 1992 film directed by Gary Sinise brings to life this controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression.

Movie: The Kite Runner starring Khalid Abdalla, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, and Atossa Leoni
Book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
🎧 Audiobook

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. The 2007 film version depicts the powerful friendship between Amir and Hassan, and also explores the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption.

*Access to books and films may vary by library & region.

The 2025 Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Book Awards

Eleanor Roosevelt championed literacy, libraries, and intellectual freedom, urging citizens to actively shape a better world. In her spirit, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center is celebrating those authors who’ve faced bans, but defended human rights through their writing, in partnership with the educators, librarians, and activists fighting for free expression today.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: The 2025 Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Book Awards Nomination Form is now open! 📚🏆

You can help recognize living authors who boldly defend human rights through their writing in the face of a growing trend of book challenges.

Submit your nominations for the 2025 Banned Book Award Ceremony.

⏳ Submission Deadline: Sept. 30, 2024

RELATED READ: The 10 most banned books of the year