This year, Banned Books Week is from September 27 through October 3. Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books and highlights persecuted individuals.

According to the American Library Association, “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie ranks #1 in the list of the Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books for 2010-2019.

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” which is based on the author’s own experiences, with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney, reflect the character’s art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.