Are you afraid of Captain Underpants, lead character of Dav Pilkey’s series of the same name? Does a superhero clad only in his underpants spark offensive language, violence, and danger? According to the American Library Association’s “Top Ten Challenged Books 2013”, the Captain Underpants series does that in the mind of many. It was the most challenged book last year and from the most well-known children’s books to relatable young adult novels and classics, books in schools are challenged for sexual explicitness, offensive language, and racism among a host of other reasons.

Young adult favorite The Hunger Games made the list for containing religious viewpoints and being unsuited for the 12-14 age level the story targets. Jeffrey Wilhelm, English professor at Boise State University and author of more than 20 literacy books, taught The Hunger Games as a lead-in to George Orwell’s 1984, a frequently challenged classic. He described how, by reading both books, students were interested in the topics at hand and reading strategy improved. “Reading [both texts] taught current culture and predictions of what might happen, making a text to world connection,” he says. “It is important to have [students reading] books related to their current state of being.”

Here’s the 2013 challenged book list:

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence
2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
   Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
10. Bone (series), by Jeff Smith
    Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence

Banned Books Week (Sept. 21-27) is meant to raise awareness of how books are still challenged or even removed as an option for school children. And, of course, there is no shortage of educators willing to speak out against book banning.

Many banned books deal with social issues children and teenagers are faced with. The censorship of such novels hinders students from gaining support through characters that reassure them they are not alone, experts say.

“I think it is a wonderful idea for students to be able to read and discuss books that are ‘edgy’ so once they leave their community to enter the world, they will be prepared to understand people and be tolerant of lifestyles and ideas other than their own,” says Nancy Bauman,  retired librarian and literacy consult. “Books can help students through problems they aren't able to discuss with others, and helps them to feel they are not 'alone' in having feelings that may be different than their peers or community.”

“I see it as limiting the intellectual freedom of students and teachers and an attempt to keep certain points of view from being expressed. By doing so, aren’t we banning ideas and limiting the free discussion of different ideas and viewpoints?” asks Barbara Ward, literacy professor at Washington State University and chair of International Reading Association’s Children’s Literature and Special Reading Interest Group.

“The honest truth is that there is probably something offensive in just about every book being published,” says Ward. “To try to stick to the safe book means lulling yourself into a false sense of complacency and refusing to stand up for anything. That’s a terrible lesson to learn or to teach to someone else.”

Morgan Ratner is the communications intern at the International Reading Association.