Author Stephanie Meyer arrives at a California premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon last November. Her books are among the most challenged in the U.S. Author Stephanie Meyer arrives at a California premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon last November. Her books are among the most challenged in the U.S. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press)

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, has earned a berth on the list of books most challenged by parents and educators.

The annual list of challenged books released Wednesday by the American Library Association ranges from picture book And Tango Makes Three to perennial classic The Catcher in the Rye.

Meyer's multimillion-selling Twilight series was ranked No. 5 on the list, criticized for sexual content and violence.

The challenges may also reflect discomfort about supernatural stories, said Barbara Jones, director of the ALA's office for intellectual freedom.

"Vampire novels have been a target for years and the Twilight books are so immensely popular that a lot of the concerns people have had about vampires are focused on her books," Jones said.

Meyer joins another top-selling young adult author, J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter series was opposed by Christian groups because of its themes of wizardry.

Rowling's books no longer appear in the top 10 of challenged books.

At the top of the list:

  1. IM series — ttyl, ttfn, l8r,g8r, by Lauren Myracle, a series of novels told through instant messages among a group of girls that have been criticized for nudity, language and drug references.
  2. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, about two male penguins adopting a baby.
  3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, cited for drugs, suicide, homosexuality and being antifamily.

J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is perennially challenged for its sexual content and language. Other classics on the list include Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (language, racism), Alice Walker's The Color Purple (sexual content, language) and Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War (nudity, language, sexual content).

The ALA recorded 460 challenges in 2009, a drop from 513 the year before, and noted 81 books actually were removed from a school or library.

The ALA defines a challenge as a "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." The ALA also says many challenges go unreported.