For over thirty years, Banned Books Week has brought communities together to celebrate the thousands of books that have been challenged or banned in across the country.
From John Green’s Looking for Alaska to Maureen Johnson’s On the Count of Three to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, lots of our favorite books have made the list. Even the Harry Potter books have had their fair share of backlash.
Unlike the restricted section at Hogwarts, books don’t usually get banned because they teach kids how to take on other people’s appearances or split their souls in pursuit of immortality. Instead, we see books being banned because they present stories that need to be told but rarely are. They explore themes that make us better equipped to navigate our lives.
We’d love to say that we can’t imagine not having these books around, but we know that this is a reality for many readers. Often, censorship harms the people who need these stories most. That’s what makes efforts like our annual Accio Books campaign so important. We’re helping to get books to the communities that need them.
In honor of banned books everywhere, we’ve designed an Azkabanned Books Club t-shirt as a perk for our annual Equality FTW fundraiser. Now you can rep your stance on censorship all year round. Get yours by donating to the Harry Potter Alliance today.
The shirt will only be available until Sunday, so be sure to grab yours now.
