Banned Book Week '21 Staff Picks

Syracuse Public Library staff members shared their favorite banned or contested books this year during Banned Books Week. Here are our picks and who picked them!

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling -- Katie
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll​ -- Rhonda
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie​ -- Becky
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck -- Emilia
The Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R. Tolkien -- Sarah
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi -- ​Robert

Movies

Click the icons above to see movie recommendations. Rotten Tomatoes has reviews listed and IMDb is great for knowing the plot, actors, ratings, and comments on movies!

Staff Recommended Movies

Homeland TV series: Seasons 1-6
Justified TV series
Anne of Green Gables movie series
Star Trek movies
Clash of the Titans (Original)
The Last of the Mohicans
Crazy Rich Asians
Soul Surfer
The Emoji Movie
Finding Nemo
Ice Age
The Incredibles
Trolls
The Greatest Showman

Books

Click the icons above to go to the websites and get book recommendations! Bookish has great articles about books to read, Goodreads has great genre lists and ways to keep track of what you have read, Whichbook gives you books based on the mood you want your book to have (happy or serious or beautiful or easy or bleak or down to earth), and What Should I Read Next lets you type in a title or author then will give you suggestions!

Susan Meissner has written many novels if you like historical fiction. A Fall of Marigolds is very interesting. This book takes place during 2 time periods, 1911 and 2001. You'll learn about the Shirtwaist Factory Fire of New York City. She ties her stories together old and new in a fascinating way. Her other books aren't all historical fiction not all good situational stories.

Staff Recommends Books

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova: This book is a bittersweet story of a life-long relationship between two pianists and what it feels like to be trapped inside a disability.

Adult Books

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
The Wedding Dress by Rachael Hauck
The House at Saltwater Point by Colleen Coble
The Paris Wife​ by Paula McLain
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
After Anna by Lisa Scottoline
A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
See Me by Nicholas Sparks
They Cage the Animals at Night by Jennings M Burch
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
Jack Reacher​ series by Lee Child
Sarah's Key​ by Tatiana de Rosnay

Teen books

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Peak by Roland Smith
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Everyday by David Levithan
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Eragon series by Christopher Paolini
You Were Here by Cori McCarthy
On the Fence by Kasie West
Heartless by Melissa Meyer

Children's Books

The Rose Legacy by Jessica Day George
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
Franklin by Paulette Bourgeois
Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
Mrs. McBloom Clean Up Your Classroom by Kelly Dipucchio
Double Trouble in Walla Walla by Andrew Clements
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann

The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith: This book is number 19 in the series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I can't recommend this series highly enough. If you find it hard to get into the book - the stories are rather slow-moving, dwelling more on character development than action. The audiobooks, narrated by Lisette Lecat, really brings the characters to life.