![\"Banned](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/books-1-copy.jpg\")
<\/a>One of the most surprising books, which was challenged many times during the 1990s, is \u201cWhere\u2019s Waldo?\u201d by Martin Handford. On one double-page spread depicting a beach scene with 200 tiny people, you can see what looks like the side of a breast of a woman whose swimsuit top has fallen off. You might give yourself eyestrain trying to find it, but apparently some people felt that this warranted removing the book from library shelves altogether.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a>For the most part, banned and challenged books are titles aimed at teen and juvenile audiences. Not surprisingly, people have strong feelings about what kids and teens should and should not be reading, and sometimes they fear that if young people read the wrong book with the wrong message, it could skew their morality for life. For example, the most frequently challenged book this year was the young adult title \u201cThirteen Reasons Why\u201d by Jay Asher. The book is about a teenage girl who committed suicide, and a series of audiotapes she left to people who tormented her. The reason people have given for wanting the book eliminated was due to its theme of suicide, presumably fearing that teen readers might choose to emulate the character and take their own lives. And while people can copy the actions they see of any character in any medium, reading about a topic like this can help people understand, cope with similar situations in their own lives, or help overcome difficulties that they may one day face.<\/p>\n<\/a>Four of the most frequently challenged titles this year had themes of sexual and gender identity, a topic which some people apparently feel should remain in the closet. The popular teen comic \u201cDrama\u201d by Raina Telgemeier was one of these titles; although focused on the awkward coming-of-age antics of a heterosexual girl, it does feature two gay characters who share a kiss at one point. Alex Gino\u2019s \u201cGeorge\u201d and \u201cI Am Jazz\u201d by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings are both about transgender children, the first being a fictional novel, the latter being an autobiographical picture book.<\/p>\n<\/a>Another frequently challenged book this year was \u201cThe Hate U Give\u201d by Angie Thomas. It is a fictional story of an African-American teen who becomes a political activist after a friend is killed by a police officer. The book was challenged for its depiction of drug use and profanity, but given the politically divided times we live in, I have to wonder if those were reasons that people gave when they were really upset about the book\u2019s politics. This title was actually banned from a school district in Texas in 2017.<\/p>\n