'Chocolate War' Is Most Challenged

By Staff -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2005

Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War (Pantheon, 1974) was the most challenged book last year, according to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). The book, about a boy's refusal to accept the status quo at his Catholic high school, drew complaints from parents and others for its sexual content, offensive language, religious perspective, and violence.

Fallen Angels (Scholastic, 1988) by Walter Dean Myers, a coming-of-age tale set in the trenches of the Vietnam War, claimed the number-two spot on OIF's list of the "Ten Most Challenged Books of 2004" for its use of racism and offensive language, followed by Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture (Knopf, 2000) by Michael A. Bellesiles. Those who oppose the latter book, which challenges the rights of Americans to bear arms, question its inaccuracy and political viewpoint. For the first time in five years, the Harry Potter series did not make the list.

Last year, OIF recorded 547 challenges, which are formal, written complaints requesting the removal of school or library materials because of their content. But for each reported challenge, up to four or five complaints remain unreported, says OIF's director, Judith Krug.