In Canada, the freedom to read what you want to read is easy to take for granted. But censorship challenges still exist all around the world, even here in Canada.
In support of this important freedom, I offer up five reading suggestions, all titles which have had censorship challenges somewhere in the world.
The Well of Loneliness (M)
by
Radclyffe Hall
- previously banned in the UK
"A 1920s classic of lesbian fiction. First published in 1928, this timeless portrayal of lesbian love is now a classic. The thinly disguised story of Hall's own life, it was banned outright upon publication and almost ruined her literary career." -Publisher
Shanghai Baby (M)by
Wei Hui-banned in China

"Dark and edgy, deliciously naughty, an intoxicating cocktail of sex and
the search for love, Shanghai Baby has already risen to cult status in
mainland China. The risque contents of the breakthrough novel by hip new
author Wei Hui have so alarmed Beijing authorities that thousands of
copies have been confiscated and burned. As explicit as Henry Miller's
Tropic of Cancer, as shocking as Trainspotting, this story of a
beautiful writer and her erotically charged affairs jumps, howls, and
hits the ground running as it depicts the new generation rising in the
East" - Publisher
Things Fall Apart (M)
by
Chinua Achebe
- previously banned in Malaysia

"Novel concerns the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion throughout the nine, fictional, villages of the Igbo ethnic group of Umuofia in Nigeria, his three wives, his children (mainly concerning his oldest son Nwoye and his favorite daughter Ezinma), and the influences of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on his traditional Igbo (archaically spelled "Ibo") community during an unspecified time in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century." - Publisher
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (M)
by
Stephen Chobsky
- YA novel previously banned in several US school libraries

"This
haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the
stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The
Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it's like to grow
up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are
singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he
lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world
he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from
it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world
of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world
of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires
is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through
Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age
story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and
poignant roller coaster days known as growing up." Publisher
Lolita (M)by
Vladimir Nabokov- briefly banned in Canada, New Zealand, France, and elsewhere

"Nabokov's classic story about a middle-aged, expatriate European man's
obsessive love for a 12-year-old girl. While Lolita continues to raise
the hackles of would-be censors even today, most [readers] will marvel
at the restraint and playful humor with which Nabokov limns his tale" - Library Journal
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