I have been on a George Orwell kick lately......in 8th grade I read Animal Farm, but decided to re-read it and then followed it up with 1984. Both are such great books. Though neither were ever banned in the United States, they were banned elsewhere.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and To Kill a Mockingbird are also really good books that I can't believe have been banned at one point in time or another.

Animal Farm: "During 1940 - 45, Allied forces found this entire book to be critical of the U.S.S.R., and therefore the text was considered to be too controversial to print during wartime. Publishers were reluctant to print the novel then, and copies of it were withdrawn from circulation at libraries, etc.A play of Animal Farm was banned in Kenya in 1991, because it criticizes corrupt leaders.In 2002, the novel was banned in the schools of the United Arab Emirates, because it contained text or images that goes against Islamic and Arab values." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

1984 : "Banned by the Soviet Union in 1950, as Stalin understood that it was a satire based on his leadership, it was nearly banned by U.S.A and U.K in the early 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was not until 1990 that the U.S.S.R legalised the book and it was re-released after editing."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

Thankfully we here in this country do not have as much banned books as in other countries. If you read the statement on what is banned book week is all about.
The American Library Association at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Independent organizations, religious groups, etc all have their own ideas of what should be banned because its an affrontation to their sensibilities.
Many think its celebrating banning books, in fact it’s a not. Its an awakening to show that the ALA stand committed to keeping all literature open and available. If you don’t want to read anything that bothers you, then don’t. It’s a free country.
But they have published a list of books that have been brought up again and again by the religious groups that feel they are “ bad” to read or they convey influence to anyone who reads it. Remember Tipper Gores music ban and labeling incident? Or Baptist coalition wanting to ban the constitution anthology o and change history books to be PC (politically correct). Here, for your edification are my banned books readings:

Catch 22
Brave New World
The Color Purple
Captain Underpants
Cujo
The Dead Zone
The Exorcist
For whom the Bell Tolls
The Grapes of Wrath
The Handmaids Tale
Harry Potter series
One flew over the Coooos nest

lately, none, but have read during my school years:

Fahrenheit 451 9seen movie too)
Brave New World (sucked, btw)
Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mockingbird (and seen the movie0

I just read Animal Farm for the first time. It's a great novel, and it was the inspiration for one of Pink Floyd's greatest albums, "Animals."