Challenged Works
About the Challenged Works List
This selective list provides information about numerous books and some magazines and newspapers that have been challenged in Canada and internationally in past decades. Each challenge sought to limit public access to these publications in schools, libraries, and elsewhere. Some challenges were upheld; others were rejected. We have tried to update our research on unresolved challenges.
Because some challenges are dismissed, the publications remain on library shelves or curriculum lists. We think it worthwhile to include such instances because the effect of a controversy over publications can spread, even though the would-be banners lose. A book or magazine with a controversial reputation can be quietly dropped from reading lists and curricula.
Report a Challenge
Because organizations and community groups that ask for book and magazine bans usually want to avoid public controversies, we often find it difficult to discover why challenges are launched or what becomes of them. If you know of book or magazine or newspaper challenges or, better still, satisfactory resolutions anywhere in Canada, please use our online case study form to report a challenge to the Freedom of Expression Committee.
Report a ChallengeSearch the Challenged Works List
The Seduction of Peter S
Lawrence Sanders ()Adult thriller about an out-of-work actor who becomes a male prostitute.
The Shepherd’s Granddaughter
Anne Laurel Carter (2008)
This is a moving novel about one of the most hotly disputed pieces of land on earth. Anne Carter tells the story of one girl and her family whose homes, way of life and livelihood — even their ancient olive trees — are threatened.
The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas, adapted by Morvan, Dufranne, Ruben and Galopin ()Classics Illustrated Deluxe Graphic Novel, children’s.
The Turner Diaries
William Pierce ()This underground novel, said to have inspired the Oklahoma City bomber, describes how white supremacists launch an anti-government race war.
The Valour and the Horror
Merily Weisbord and Merilyn Simonds Mohr ()Book based on a three-part TV series.
The Waiting Dog
Carolyn Beck and Andrea Beck ()Children’s book about a dog who is anxiously waiting for the mail to be delivered to his home.