In 1981, *The Catcher in the Rye* ranked second among novels taught in U.S. public schools.
The ranking captures the novel’s unusual position in American education. J. D. Salinger’s 1951 story of Holden Caulfield had become a standard classroom text, especially for discussions of adolescence, alienation, identity, grief, and the transition into adulthood. Its first-person voice also made it especially accessible—and provocative—for teenage readers.
The book’s classroom popularity existed alongside controversy. In 1981, it was not only the second most taught novel in public schools but also the most frequently censored book in the United States. Teachers and school boards often objected to its profanity, sexual references, and treatment of rebellion and depression.
A nearby fact often causes confusion: the novel was highly taught, but it was not ranked first in this particular 1981 measure. “Second” refers to its position among taught novels, while its censorship ranking that year was first.