- A PEN America report described a dramatic escalation in school book bans.
- Book bans have impacted 1,145 unique titles in classrooms and libraries recently.
- The top three banned titles focus on LGBTQ+ individuals or touch on same-sex relationships.
Book bans in classrooms and school libraries have impacted 1,145 unique titles in the past nine months, a new report found, as controversial literature about race, gender and sexuality has become a focal point of America's culture wars.
The report from PEN America, a literary and free expression organization, described a dramatic escalation in school book bans — defined actions that lead to removing, restricting, or diminishing access to books, based on objections to their content — after previously seeing only a handful of such cases each year.
The top three banned titles focus on LGBTQ+ individuals or touch on same-sex relationships. Here's a closer look at the titles banned most often recently by school districts:
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
This autobiographical comic is described by Simon and Schuster as "a useful and touching guide on gender identity." The School Library Journal called it "a great resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to better understand."
But Republican governors in South Carolina and Texas have both singled out the book as "pornographic."
The author, in a 2021 Washington Post op-ed, wrote, "Removing or restricting queer books in libraries and schools is like cutting a lifeline for queer youth, who might not yet even know what terms to ask Google to find out more about their own identities, bodies and health."
Amazon recommends it for readers who are 18 or older while Common Sense Media, which reviews books and movies for families, says the book is appropriate for ages 16 and older.
The Common Sense reviewer describes "explicit but not erotic illustrations of sexual activity" including "masturbation, oral sex, sex toys, kissing in an implied sex position, erections, and a fantasy image of a man holding another's penis."
The book has been banned in 30 school districts.
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
The young-adult memoir "weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys," with Johnson describing memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age 5 and first sexual relationships, says the Amazon description, which recommends a reading age of 14-18 years old.
The superintendent in Wicomico County, Maryland, pulled the book in March after a school board meeting's public comment period was dominated by complaints about the book, the PEN America report says.
The book has been banned in 21 school districts.
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
This coming-of-age novel about a gay protagonist who is trying to discover himself includes a sexual experience the protagonist had at a youth group meeting age the age of 10 with another 10-year-old boy.
The author says the book includes graphic language and that it was intended for an adult audience though it found some crossover success after winning an award from the Young Adult Library Association.
"In addition to the aforementioned sexual passages, Lawn Boy was found to have contained '44 fucks, and 42 shits,' and I would argue that not one of them was wasted," Evison wrote for NW Book Lovers, responding to criticism of him and the book. "Frankly, I would have put that number much higher."
The book was banned in 16 school districts.
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
This is a love story about a Black teenage boy and a Mexican-American girl facing racism in Texas at the time of the 1937 New London school explosion, the worst school disaster in US history. Amazon recommends the book for readers in grades 8-12.
PEN America identified 247 titles – 22 percent of those banned – addressed subjects related to race and racism, primarily in the US.
The book has been banned in 16 school districts.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The story involves an 11-year-old Black girl, who wants her eyes to turn blue, thinking that would change her life.
Common Sense Media describes the book as a "poetic and complex investigation of racial, personal, and sexual feelings" that's suitable for readers who are 15 and older. The book describes sex acts between adults, incest and domestic violence, and more than one man behaving "inappropriately" with young girls, the review says.
"Teen readers may need some adult guidance to understand the world of the novel, in which many characters seem driven by emotional and sexual feelings they can't control," the review says.
The book has been banned in 12 school districts.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
The book includes interviews with six transgender or gender-neutral young adults before, during, and after their acknowledgment of gender preference. Amazon recommends the book for grades 9-12.
The book has been banned in 11 school districts.