The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas

A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption.

Stichley's Rating:
I am always surprised by the number of kids college age that have not seen the movie, heard of, or read this book.  I consider it to be one of the great classics that I read in high school.  For that reason I am including it here.  Clearly if you aren't religious it might put you off, but I think it is a great story no matter your faith and level or religion.  It is about love and forgiveness.  

Instances of Swearing:

• I'm not including references of God or Christ due to the story nature they are not intended as swear words so not even going to count them.
• Damn: 3
• Hell: 1
• Ass: used as Pack-Asses

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he thought he was destined to live.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Hell: 4
• Ass: 17
• Shit: 9
• Bitch: 1
• Bastard: 4
• Genital Related: 5
• God: 14
• FU: 1
• Nigger/Negro: 1
• Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking
• Racism
• Sexually explicit scenes

Falling Leaves: The Memory of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah

Born in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer.

A compelling, painful, and ultimately triumphant story of a girl's journey into adulthood, Adeline's story is a testament to the most basic of human needs: acceptance, love, and understanding. With a powerful voice that speaks of the harsh realities of growing up female in a family and society that kept girls in emotional chains, Falling Leaves is a work of heartfelt intimacy and a rare authentic portrait of twentieth-century China.

Stichley's Rating:
I'm not real sure what made me pick up this book.  I've never bought a book before at an airport, but I was picking up a magazine that a friend of mine was appearing on the cover of when I saw this book.  I had a long flight a head of me and I decided on the spur of the moment to grab it.  For the first time since before I started college I read the entire book in under 24 hours.  This book was very touching and I personally found it difficult to put down.

Instances of Swearing:

• God, but used in the appropriate context

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in.Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing.

ALA Reasons:

• Swearing:
• Hell: 1
• Ass: 1
• Bitch: 2
• FU: 4
• Shit: 4
• Genital Related: 15
• Bastard: 2
• Negro/Nigger: 8
• God: 17
• Christ: 4
• Sexually explicit scenes & violence

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

Although World War II was the greatest conflict in the history of this planet, many a jaded reader has come to the reluctant conclusion that there aren’t any more World War II stories left to tell. At least not good ones—not tales of the “ripping good yarn” variety. Yet remarkably, in his new book Lost in Shangri-La, Mitchell Zuckoff has found one, and he’s told it with reportorial verve, narrative skill, and exquisite pacing.

What makes this World War II story all the more fascinating is that it isn’t really a war story—not in a strict military sense. It’s more of an exotic adventure tale with rich anthropological shadings. In 1945, near the end of the war, an American plane crashes in a hidden jungle valley in New Guinea inhabited by Stone Age cannibals. 21 Americans die in the crash, but three injured survivors soon find themselves stumbling through the jungle without food, nursing terrible wounds and trying to elude Japanese snipers known to be holding out in the mountains.

The first contact between the three Americans and the valley’s Dani tribesmen is both poignant and comical. The Americans, Zuckoff writes, have “crash-landed in a world that time didn’t forget. Time never knew it existed.” The tribesmen, who have never encountered metal and have yet to master the concept of the wheel, think the American interlopers are white spirits who’ve descended on a vine from heaven, fulfilling an ancient legend. They’re puzzled and fascinated by the layers of “removable skin” in which these alien visitors are wrapped; the natives, who smear their bodies in pig grease and cover their genitals with gourds, have never seen clothes before.

The Americans, in turn, are pretty sure their boartusk-bestudded hosts want to skewer them for dinner.

What ensues in Zuckoff’s fine telling is not so much a cultural collision as a pleasing and sometimes hilarious mutual unraveling of assumptions. Though the differences in the two societies are chasmic, the Americans and the Dani become—in a guarded, tentative sort of way—friends.

But when armed American airmen arrive via parachute to rescue the survivors, relations become more tense. The Americans make their camp right in the middle of a no-man’s land between warring Dani tribes—a no-man’s land where for centuries they have fought the battles that are central to their daily culture. Here, Zuckoff notes, the ironies are profoundly rich. The Dani, untouched by and indeed utterly unaware of the great war that’s been raging all across the globe, become thoroughly discombobulated when their own war is temporarily disrupted.

Yes, there are still a few good World War II stories left to tell. And yes, this one meets all the requirements of a ripping good yarn. Zuckoff, who teaches journalism at Boston University, is a first-rate reporter who has spared no expense to rescue this tale from obscurity. His story has it all: Tragedy, survival, comedy, an incredibly dangerous eleventh-hour rescue, and an immensely attractive heroine to boot. It’s extraordinary that Hollywood hasn’t already taken this tale and run wild with it. If it did, the resulting movie would be equal parts Alive, Cast Away, and The Gods Must Be Crazy. It’s as though the Americans have arrived in the Stone Age through a wormhole in the space-time continuum. The Dani don’t know what to do with themselves—and life, as any of us know it, will never be the same.

Stitchley's Rating: 
This is an excellent story that doesn't just tell the story of the downed American's, but of the history of the this hidden valley that few have ever visited.  Very little is known of this part of the world, and Mitchell Zuckoff does a great job weaving the story he is telling and the history of the area together.  Often times you don't even realized that he has veered off to tell a side note of history that is essential to the story before you find yourself back at the core of the story again.

Instances of Swearing:

• Hell: 18
• Damn: 12
• God: 15, *note some of these are appropriate uses

2013 ALA Top 10 Frequently Challenged Books

Out of 307 challenges as reported by the Office for Intellectual Freedom

• Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey-Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence
• The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison-Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie-Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
• Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James-Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
• The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins-Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
• A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone-Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
• Looking for Alaska, by John Green-Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky-Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
• Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya-Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
• Bone (series), by Jeff Smith-Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence

Swearing off of bad language

by Laura Smith-Spark of CNN

(CNN original article) -- Thinking about making a film? Better leave out the foul language if you want it to be seen in Russia. The same goes for plays. Even rock stars will need to leave their potty mouths at home.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on a new law Monday that bans swearing at arts, cultural and entertainment events in the country.

Any new film containing obscene language won't be granted a distribution certificate, so there's no chance of seeing it at the movie theater.

And copies of books, CDs or films containing swearing can only be distributed in a sealed package labeled "Contains obscene language," a Kremlin statement said.

According to state news agency ITAR-Tass, individuals caught using foul language face a fine of up to $70, while officials can be fined up to $40 and businesses nearly $1,400. They face a higher fine and a three-month suspension of business for repeated offenses.

Determination of what counts as profane language will be done through "an independent examination," the news agency said.

According to the Kremlin, the legislation "bans the use of obscene language when ensuring the rights of Russian citizens to the use of the state language, and protecting and developing language culture."

The law could come into effect as soon as July 1, ITAR-Tass said, but it doesn't apply to cultural and artistic works that have already been issued.

While some may hail attempts to clean up the nation's language, it will likely be seen by critics as the latest step under Putin's leadership to limit freedom of expression and promote a conservative, nationalist viewpoint.


A report by rights group Amnesty International in January highlighted a denial of "basic freedoms" in Russia, which last year introduced a law barring anyone from talking positively about homosexuality in earshot of minors.

The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson

Hank has been accused of murder! In a fit of despair, Hank resigns his position as Head of Ranch Security and decides to join the outlaw coyotes. There he's known as Hunk (that's Hank in coyote language). Hank meets Missy Coyote, sister to Scraunch -- the meanest, roughest, toughest, most notorious coyote in the whole country. If Scraunch found Hank with his sister... Well, look out for trouble.

Stichley's Rating:
Hank the Cowdog is actually a series of books.  They are funny and candy books.  They are easy reads that you can get through in a hurry if your an adult, but as a kid they are a good read.  Hank will remind you of any happy go lucky mutt you know as you read the books.  He likes rolling in things that smell, and barking at things, and doing all things a dog loves... only it is funnier in these books than real life.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Hell: 17
• Ass: 1
• Damn: 6
• Bitch: 1
• Bastard: 2
• Negro/Nigger: 72
• Racism

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger's New Yorker stories, particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme With Love and Squalor, will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is fully of children. The hero-narrator of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Hell: 140
• Ass: 20
• Damn: 86
• Bitch: 1
• Bastard: 49
• FU: 3
• God: 60
• Christ: 7
• Sexual Scenes
• Excessive Violence
• Items dealing with the Occult

Additions to Blog

Note we've decided to include some of the frequently challenged books on the website.  They will be found under the Label ALA Challenged Books.  These books will not have ratings or our personal opinions unless we have read them.  We will use our software to search them for language, and other items that have prompted them to end up on this list.  We think that this is a service that should be made available for those who are interested in reading these books but want to know why they are on the challenge list.

We have also added a book request option on the side of the page to allow you to request us to use our software, or in some cases we may read the book, to check any books you are interested in purchasing and wan't to know what is inside.  These will be taken care of on a as we have time basis.

Frequently challenged books of the 21st century

Each year, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the top ten most frequently challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information.

A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. The number of challenges reflects only incidents reported. We estimate that for every reported challenge, four or five remain unreported. Therefore, we do not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges.

Background Information from 2000 to 2009

Over this recent past decade, 5,099* challenges were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

1,577 challenges due to "sexually explicit" material;
1,291 challenges due to "offensive language";
989 challenges due to materials deemed "unsuited to age group";
619 challenged due to "violence"' and
361 challenges due to "homosexuality."
Further, 274 materials were challenged due to "occult" or "Satanic" themes, an additional 291 were challenged due to their "religious viewpoint," and 119 because they were "anti-family."

Please note that the number of challenges and the number of reasons for those challenges do not match, because works are often challenged on more than one ground.

1,639 of these challenges were in school libraries; 1,811 were in classrooms; 1,217 took place in public libraries. There were 114 challenges to materials used in college classes; and 30 to academic libraries. There are isolated cases of challenges to library materials made available in or by prisons, special libraries, community groups, and students. The vast majority of challenges were initiated by parents (2,535), with patrons and administrators to follow (516 and 489 respectively).

Top Ten Challenged Books Lists by Year: 2001-2013

Find out if your favorite book has been banned or challenged by exploring the top ten lists of the 21st century below.  For more information see original site.

The titles not included may have been banned or challenged, but we have not received any reports on them. If you have information about the banning or challenging of these (or any) titles, please contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
9. 1984, by George Orwell

11. Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

15. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway

23. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son, by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway

33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

36. Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin

38. All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren

40. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

45. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

48. Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

53. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

55. The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

57. Sophie's Choice, by William Styron

64. Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence

66. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

73. Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence

80. The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer

84. Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller

88. An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser

97. Rabbit, Run, by John Updike

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle is excited to return home from her school in England to her family in Rhode Island in the summer of 1832.

But when the two families she was supposed to travel with mysteriously cancel their trips, Charlotte finds herself the lone passenger on a long sea voyage with a cruel captain and a mutinous crew. Worse yet, soon after stepping aboard the ship, she becomes enmeshed in a conflict between them! What begins as an eagerly anticipated ocean crossing turns into a harrowing journey, where Charlotte gains a villainous enemy . . . and is put on trial for murder!

Stitchley's Raiting:  
I've tried to stay away from books that have awards or are will know simply because it is so easy to find out information about them.  This book is one that I haven't had many other people I know read.  Seems every time I suggest it to others they are always saying they have seen it but not read it.  This is an enjoyable book, mostly because I could completely relate to the young Charlotte Doyle.  I never was a fan of being put in dresses or acting like a girly girl.  I simply wouldn't and still avoid dresses like they are the bane of my existence.  If I could have been a sailor on a ship I probably would have.  My dream as a kid was to be a cowboy, a sailor, or a Starfleet officer.  I think anyone who has dreamed of the freedom of the sea would love this book.  It has an evil and camaraderie as well.  I don't recall any instances of swearing.