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Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.

Extremely Loud and

Incredibly Close

by Jonathan Safran Foer

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Call Number: Foley General Collection PS3606.O38 E97 2005

ISBN: 9780618329700

Publication Date: 2005

A New York Times Bestseller. Named A Best Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post Book World, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Rocky Mountain News.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts of an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.

Why was this book challenged?

Reasons: Sexual Content, Language

Bustle documents the 2015 banning of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close from an honors English curriculum at Mattoon High School in Illinois. Parents objected to sexual content and alleged vulgarities. In response, the principal pulled the book.
See our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about the differences between a challenge and a ban.

Last Updated: Sep 30, 2025 4:22 PM
URL: https://researchguides.gonzaga.edu/BannedBooksWeek
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Subjects: UASC Exhibits

Tags: Banned, Banned Books, Banned Books Week, Censorship, Challenged Books, Intellectual Freedom

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