The Office of Intellectual Freedom has released its list of the Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2011, and Kim Dong Hwa’s sensitive coming-of-age graphic novel The Color of Earth, which is published by First Second Books, was the second most frequently challenged book in libraries and schools.  The Color of Earth came in second ahead of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian The Hunger Games, which was third.  The Office of Intellectual Freedom counted 326 reports of attempts to remove or restrict books from school’s curricula and library shelves.

 

First place on the list went to Lauren Myracle’s IM (instant message) books, ttyl (talk to you later, ttfn (ta-ta for now), and l8r, g8r (later, gator).  The Color of Earth was the only graphic novel in the top ten.  Unbelievable as it may seem in 2012, Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird was #10 on the list.