Read Banned Books: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain's sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer takes a sharper and more satirical turn from its predecessor. Called the great American novel by multiple critics, it's also been condemned as crude or racist by others. In Twain's lifetime, some libraries, including the Brooklyn Public Library and the Concord, Massachusetts public library, refused to carry it, or to make it available to children. Challenges to the book, particuarly recently, are often related to its use of racial slurs used by the narrator and other characters in the book. (Attempts to replace Twain's words with others less likely to shock have had largely skeptical reactions from writers and teachers.) Some challenges have also cited the character's decision to 'go to hell' (rather than follow what he understands as a religious requirement to return his friend Jim to slavery).