[In the essay below, Rogers writes that “Harry Potter” tops the list of the ten most challenged books in 1999.]

The best-selling “Harry Potter” series of children's books by J. K. Rowling tops the list of the ten books most challenged in 1999, according to the American Library Association's (ALA) office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF).

The Potter books drew complaints from parents and others concerned about their focus on wizardry and magic. The OIF received 472 reports of challenged titles in 1999. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school about a book's content or appropriateness. Most challenges are reported by public libraries, schools, and school libraries.

After Potter, the list includes Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's “Alice” series; Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War; Judy Blume's Blubber; Walter Dean Myers's Fallen Angels; John Steinbeck's classic Of Mice and Men, all for using offensive language and being unsuited to its targeted age group.

Books that made the list for other reasons, include Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, for being too explicit in its portrayal of rape and other sexual abuse; Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, for its sexual content; Alice Walker's The Color Purple, for sexual content and offensive language; and David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars, for sexual content and offensive language.