When books are banned in schools, it's usually because of sex.

But profanity, violence, religion, politics, race — they get their face time, too. The same issues that spark hot tempers and raised voices between friends also pit First Amendment devotees against protective parents.

Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read, begins Saturday. And for the 14th year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has compiled a report on books challenged and banned across the state.

"Sometimes challenges are denied, sometimes books are banned, sometimes there is restricted access," says Dotty Griffith, public education director for the ACLU of Texas.

Twenty books were banned and 87 challenged in Texas public schools during 2009-10. Bans and challenges are made district by district.

The list of banned books ranges from older titles, including Forever and Then Again, Maybe I Won't, by Judy Blume, to newer books, such as Cecily von Ziegesar's Would I Lie to You: A Gossip Girl Novel. Among the notable literature challenged: Flowers for Algernon, The Catcher in the Rye and The Kite Runner.

To some extent, what gets banned or challenged depends on what's in fashion. In the past, Harry Potter books were challenged because of their focus on witchcraft. Similar cases were made against vampire books, although Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series was challenged by only one district in 2009-10.

Yet some topics always fall under scrutiny. This year, as in years past, some of the banned books have gay themes.

"When we talk about a book being banned, we mean being taken off the shelf," says Gloria Meraz, communications director for the Texas Library Association. "A 'challenge' is when questions about a book are raised."

The greatest number of challenges came from Leander Independent School District north of Austin, followed closely by Round Rock and Cypress-Fairbanks independent school districts. In Leander, nearly every challenge came from a parent or guardian.

The Houston Independent School District did not report any challenges or bans. This is big news; two years ago HISD reported more challenges than any other district.

Katy and Conroe Independent School districts reported no challenges. Fort Bend ISD reported one challenge: Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes. Ultimately, the book was retained and no restrictions were placed on it.

Incident in Humble

Middle schools across Texas saw the most controversy, with 50 percent of banned books removed from their shelves or class reading lists.

"The genre of young adult or teen lit increasingly does try to deal with real life in many ways," Griffith says. "I think there is a desire to shield kids from some of the tougher situations, but if young people weren't being confronted with certain kinds of situations, there wouldn't be books about them."

The recent incident at the Humble Independent School District with author Ellen Hopkins - whose young-adult books were restricted in a few districts this year - is a case in point.

When the bestselling author was pulled from a lineup of writers to appear at a Teen Lit Fest in Humble, cries of censorship burst from the literary community. After other authors backed out of the event to support Hopkins - whose books have tackled meth addiction, teen prostitution and suicide - the district canceled the festival.

Griffith took note of the situation in the ACLU report: "Wouldn't it have made more sense to let parents, who in virtually all cases accompany their middle school-age children to the festival, decide whether Hopkins and her books are suitable for their children?" she asks in the report.

There are multiple variables in the reporting and gathering of information about challenged or banned books.

Different by district

Texas school districts are required by law to respond to the ACLU's open-records request, but Griffith says the group has not been too aggressive about enforcing it.

"We get a fairly high response rate," she says. "If the larger districts didn't respond, we might be more aggressive."

In addition, who decides whether a book should be banned varies by district. A superintendent might have final say, or a handful of administrators, or a review committee, according to Meraz.

Also of concern is the absence of an appeals process to re-examine titles that have been taken off district shelves.

"Many districts don't have an appeals process," Griffith says, "so once a book is banned, in theory it remains banned for eternity."

maggie.galehouse@chron.com