Comics face bans and challenges for the same reasons as any other books. Reasons books are frequently challenged include “adult content,” “language,” “sex/nudity,” or “inappropriate for age group.” Comics are uniquely vulnerable to challenges because of the medium’s visual nature and because comics still carry the stigma of low-value speech. Some challenges are brought against comics because a single page or panel can be taken out of context, while others come under attack because of the mistaken notion that all comics are for children.
For more information and resources on banned/challenged books, go to lapl.org/banned.
A moving autobiographical coming-of-age story about the author’s life and childhood in a fundamentalist Christian family.
This volume contains parts 1 and 2 of Satrapi's best-selling memoir, which relates in graphic novel form the story of the author’s childhood and young adult years in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. A film version of this book came out in 2007.
Middle-schooler Callie juggles drama both on and off stage in this winning and fun title about friendship, crushes, musical theater, and finding oneself, by the same author of the popular and award-winning Smile.
Based on memories noted in her childhood journal, comic artist Bechdel documents her unusual childhood with darkly humorous drawings and text. Her closeted gay father ran a funeral home and died (a probable suicide) just as she was coming out as a lesbian.
Summary: Maia Kobabe (who uses e/em/eir pronouns) writes this moving autobiography of finding eirself. Covering everything from crushes, how to come out to family and the world at large, and explaining what it means to be non-binary and asexual. A wonderful memoir on what it means to find and live as your most authentic self.
A great middle grade graphic novel about best friends coming together to fight the stigma surrounding menstruation, normalize it, and take action to make tampons and pads accessible in the school restrooms. This is an informative as well as an uplifting story regarding the power of friendship. A section at the end, "How to be a Period Activist", gives tangible examples of how to become a period activist.
Yaichi lives a normal life in Tokyo with his daughter Natsuki, until the day a Canadian man shows up at his door, claiming to be his brother’s husband. In closeted Japan, this book opens up borders and boundaries. Yaichi learns to share his brother’s childhood with this stranger, and also learns to deal with a gay brother-in-law. A humorous book that shows how change can happen slowly.
This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel is considered by many to be one of the best of the genre. It recounts the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes. A film version came out in 2009.