Frequently Challenged Books For Kids and Teens

Parents need to know that this classic novel includes frequent use of the "N"-word (and other now-dated terms), but the book is clearly antiracist and antislavery. Children, especially younger ones, may need some help seeing how Twain uses the racist talk to show the stupidity of racism and the characters who espouse it. Huck has been taught to be racist, too, but he overcomes this, even though he thinks doing so is wrong — a clever approach that may be too sophisticated for some young readers to understand without help. There's also some violence and several deaths, including two children.