# Banned books in New York schools

**2** titles reported as banned, removed, or formally challenged by at least one New York public-school district. This is a state-aggregated view — the specific district and policy vary per title. Sourced from PEN America's Index of School Book Bans and the American Library Association (ALA) most-challenged list.

**State:** New York  ·  **Reported titles:** 2
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/banned-books/new-york
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.
**Primary source — PEN America:** https://pen.org/banned-book-list/
**Primary source — ALA most-challenged:** https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks
**New York Department of Education:** https://www.nysed.gov/

## Books reported as banned or challenged in New York schools

- [Black Boy](https://readinglist.school/book/black-boy) by Richard Wright _(950L · Grades 9–12 · pub 1945)_
- [Slaughterhouse-Five](https://readinglist.school/book/slaughterhouse-five) by Kurt Vonnegut _(850L · Grades 11–12 · pub 1969)_

## How book challenges work in New York

New York has 2 titles on file as banned, restricted, or formally challenged by at least one New York public-school district in the public sources ReadingList aggregates from (PEN America's Index of School Book Bans and the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom most-challenged list). These tracked numbers represent FORMAL challenges that reached district board minutes, ALA OIF reporting, or PEN America's quarterly index — quieter classroom-level removals that never reached those national trackers are not captured here, so the actual scope of restriction in New York is plausibly larger than this list reflects.

Book challenges in New York typically follow a layered process: a parent, board member, or community member files a written request for reconsideration of an assigned title with a specific school or district; the district convenes a review committee (usually comprising teachers, librarians, administrators, and sometimes parent representatives); the committee reads the book, evaluates it against the district's selection criteria and against New York ELA standards, holds at least one public comment session, and votes to retain, restrict (e.g., grade-level limits or parental consent), or remove the title from the approved curriculum. Decisions are typically appealable to the state board of education within a defined window.

Common challenge bases across the 2 New York titles tracked here mirror the national pattern: sexual content (most common), LGBTQ+ themes, race and racism, profanity or violence, religion and political content, and depictions of substance abuse. Tracked titles include: Black Boy; Slaughterhouse-Five. Each title's detail page lists the specific New York district that initiated the challenge, the date, and (when published) the formal challenge basis recorded in district minutes. For deeper context on national patterns, the linked PEN America and ALA pages publish quarterly and annual reports.

For parents, teachers, librarians, and students in New York navigating this landscape: the practical paths forward depend on role. Parents who object to a specific assigned title can typically request an alternative assignment from the teacher directly without initiating a formal challenge — most New York districts have informal opt-out paths well before the formal reconsideration process kicks in. Librarians and teachers facing pressure to remove a title can document the formal selection criteria the book met, gather student-reader testimonials (with FERPA-compliant consent), and align with the National Coalition Against Censorship for advisory support. Students directly affected by a book removal can speak at the school board meeting where the decision is reviewed — public comment is open to all New York district residents. New York's Department of Education publishes the formal procedural framework — the source link is in the sources block above.

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_Aggregated from PEN America + ALA public reporting. A statewide ban is rare; most removals are at the district or individual-school level, and many challenged titles remain available elsewhere in the state. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/banned-books/new-york._