80 Banned Books Trivia Questions with Answers
80 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
Banned Books trivia examines novels, children’s books, nonfiction, censorship, and the controversies that have led schools, libraries, governments, or communities to challenge publications. Questions include Dr. Seuss’s environmental satire, Harper Lee’s racial themes, Mark Twain’s use of racist language, and Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses.
The hub also reaches from Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen to Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, and John Cleland’s Fanny Hill. It suits literature classes, library programs, book clubs, pub quizzes, and game nights where players enjoy connecting authors, publication dates, themes, and censorship history.
Which 1960 novel by Harper Lee was banned in some schools for its racial themes?
Answer
To Kill a Mockingbird
Which 1884 novel by Mark Twain has been banned in many schools for its use of racial slurs?
Answer
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Which 1988 novel by Salman Rushdie was banned in India and Iran for alleged blasphemy?
Answer
The Satanic Verses
Which 1970 children's picture book by Maurice Sendak was challenged for its depiction of a naked boy?
Answer
In the Night Kitchen
Which 1973 nonfiction work by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was banned in the Soviet Union?
Answer
The Gulag Archipelago
Which 1956 poetry collection by Allen Ginsberg was the subject of an obscenity trial in San Francisco?
Answer
Howl and Other Poems
Which 2007 young adult novel by Sherman Alexie was banned in many schools for profanity and sexual content?
Answer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Which 2005 children's picture book about two male penguins raising a chick was frequently banned for LGBTQ themes?
Answer
And Tango Makes Three
Which 1997 children's novel by J.K. Rowling has been frequently banned for supposedly promoting witchcraft?
Answer
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Which 1949 novel by George Orwell has been banned in some countries for its political themes?
Answer
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Which 1962 science fantasy novel by Madeleine L'Engle was banned for its religious themes?
Answer
A Wrinkle in Time
Which 2005 young adult novel by John Green was frequently challenged for its sexual content?
Answer
Looking for Alaska
Which 1961 children's novel by Roald Dahl was banned in some schools for its violent content?
Answer
James and the Giant Peach
Which 1977 children's novel by Katherine Paterson was banned in some schools for its depiction of death?
Answer
Bridge to Terabithia
Which 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne was banned in some schools for its depiction of adultery?
Answer
The Scarlet Letter
Which 2007 young adult novel about teen suicide was banned in some schools?
Answer
Thirteen Reasons Why
Which 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald was banned in some schools for its sexual content?
Answer
The Great Gatsby
Which 1951 novel by J.D. Salinger has been frequently banned for its profanity and sexual themes?
Answer
The Catcher in the Rye
Which 1971 book by William Powell was banned in many countries for instructions on explosives?
Answer
The Anarchist Cookbook
Which 1928 novel by Radclyffe Hall was banned in England for its lesbian themes?
Answer
The Well of Loneliness
Which 1999 novel by Stephen Chbosky was challenged for its sexual content and drug use?
Answer
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Which 1970 novel by Judy Blume was frequently banned for its frank depiction of puberty?
Answer
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Which 1928 novel by D.H. Lawrence was banned in the UK for obscenity until 1960?
Answer
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Which 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis was banned in several countries for extreme violence?
Answer
American Psycho
Which 1965 autobiography of a civil rights leader was banned in some schools?
Answer
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Which 1963 children's book by Maurice Sendak was sometimes banned for its dark themes?
Answer
Where the Wild Things Are
Banned Books trivia — quick answers
What are good Banned Books trivia questions?
Good Banned Books trivia questions identify challenged titles, authors, publication dates, disputed themes, censorship decisions, and the countries or institutions involved. They can cover children’s literature, classic novels, nonfiction, religion, race, sexuality, and politics.
How hard is Banned Books trivia?
Banned Books trivia ranges from accessible title-and-author questions to challenging questions about historical censorship, publication dates, legal restrictions, and the reasons books were challenged. It works for both classroom quizzes and experienced literature teams.
Why was The Color Purple challenged or banned?
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple has been challenged in some U.S. schools and libraries because of sexual content, profanity, violence, and discussions of race, sexuality, and abuse. The 1982 novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award.
Why was The Satanic Verses banned in some countries?
Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses was banned in India and several other countries after religious and political controversy over passages some Muslims considered blasphemous. Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 decree calling for Rushdie’s death.
What is Fanny Hill?
Fanny Hill, also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, is an erotic novel by John Cleland first published in 1748. Its explicit sexual content led to obscenity prosecutions and restrictions in Britain, where the book remained legally controversial into the twentieth century.