John Green's 'Looking for Alaska' Tops List of Most Banned Books in America
John Green's 'Looking for Alaska' Tops List of Most Banned Books in America
DeAnna JanesFri, February 27, 2026 at 10:37 PM UTC
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(Courtesy of Hulu)
PEN America, a nonprofit that “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide,” continuously updates a list of the most banned books in the nation.
Among the hefty stack are Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award reads, and New York Timesbestsellers. Authors run the shelves from Toni Morrison and Judy Blume, to Jodi Picoult and Stephen Chbosky. Since 2021, the organization has documented more than 22,000 cases of book bans in U.S. public schools.
Topping the list? A YA novel about a kid whose life is forever changed by an event that happens at boarding school.
Looking for Alaskais John Greene’s award-winning debut. It sold millions of copies and raked in the accolades. According to Amazon, it was the winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, a Los Angeles Times book prize finalist, a New York Times bestseller, a USA Todaybestseller, one of NPR’s Top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels, one of TIME magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time, and a PBS Great American Read selection. Wow, that’s a mouthful.
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A semiautobiographical account of Greene’s own teenhood at Indian Springs School, a boarding school outside Birmingham, Alabama, Greene shares the inspiration for his debut in a YouTube video titled “Looking for Alaska at My High School.”
“So, my first novel is about a guy from Florida who is obsessed with the dying words of famous people and then leaves home to go to a boarding school in Alabama,” he says. “And I myself was once a guy from Florida who is obsessed with the dying words of famous people and then leaves home to go to a boarding school in Alabama.”
He adds, “I wrote the book to attempt time travel. Maybe through fiction, I would be allowed back into the home from which time had expelled me.”
In 2019, the book was adapted for the small screen with a series starring Charlie Plummer, Kristine Froseth, Denny Love, and Jay Lee. Directed by Josh Schwartz of The O.C. fame, the coming-of-age drama ran for one season and can be streamed on Hulu/Disney+.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
