Intended to provide rationales for the use of a group of controversial books in American public schools, this manual explains the educational values of 33 of the most frequently challenged books. Detailed rationales include such information as historical perspective, literary elements, pertinence, and thematic content. Some of the titles include the following: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"; "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl"; "Black Like Me"; "Brave New World"; "The Catcher in the Rye"; "The Chocolate War"; "Deliverance"; "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test"; "A Farewell to Arms"; "Forever"; "Go Ask Alice"; "The Good Earth"; "The Grapes of Wrath"; "A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich"; "If Beale Street Could Talk"; "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"; "It's OK If You Don't Love Me"; "Johnny Got His Gun"; "The Learning Tree"; "Lord of the Flies"; "Love Story"; "Manchild in the Promised Land"; "My Darling, My Hamburger"; "Nineteen Eighty-Four"; "Of Mice and Men"; "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"; "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; "Ordinary People"; "Our Bodies, Ourselves"; "The Scarlet Letter"; "A Separate Peace"; "Slaughterhouse Five"; and "To Kill A Mockingbird." The book ends with an essay, "The Censor Within," by Marion Dane Bauer. The results of a l982 national survey of 862 high school librarians concerning challenged books is included. (EL)