<P> Copies of the literary journal The Little Review containing episodes from James Joyce's novel Ulysses were seized by the United States Postal Service under the Comstock law . James Joyce's Ulysses was suppressed in 1921 for obscenity, because of a scene that involved masturbation, first published in The Little Review . Ulysses was then the subject of a court challenge in 1933, United States v. One Book Called Ulysses . Judge John M. Woolsey's ruling that the book was not obscene, marked a notable change in how the courts viewed obscenities in novels . </P> <P> Henry Miller's novel Tropic of Cancer has been described as "notorious for its candid sexuality" and as responsible for the "free speech that we now take for granted in literature". It was first published in 1934 by the Obelisk Press in Paris, France, but this edition was banned in the United States . Its publication in 1961 in the U.S. by Grove Press led to obscenity trials that tested American laws on pornography in the early 1960s . In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the book non-obscene . It is regarded as an important work of 20th - century literature . </P> <P> The children's book And Tango Makes Three has been one of the most challenged books in the 21st century due to the plot, which focuses on two homosexual penguins in the Central Park Zoo . Tango is one of several books that have been censored because of homosexual themes . In 2003 the children's book The Family Book was removed from the curriculum of the Erie, Illinois school system due to the book's representation of same - sex families . </P> <P> Flowers for Algernon, a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes, is on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990--1999 at number 43 . The reasons for the challenges vary, but usually center on those parts of the novel in which Charlie struggles to understand and express his sexual desires . Many of the challenges have proved unsuccessful, but the book has occasionally been removed from school libraries, including some in Pennsylvania and Texas . It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960 . The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel (with Babel - 17). </P>

Are there any books currently banned in the us