The parent writes that the book should be considered indecent under Utah’s new book banning law, after seeing the other titles that have been pulled. Read more
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Tag: Censorship
The 50 Most Banned Books in America
During the 2021-2022 school year, more than 1,600 books were banned from school libraries. The bans affected 138 school districts in 32 states, according to a report from PEN America, an organization dedicated to protecting free expression in literature. And the number of bans are only increasing yearly. Read more
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How to Battle Book Banning in Your Community
Christopher M. Finan has been involved in the fight against censorship for 35 years. He is executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the former president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Read more
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It’s 2022 and Two Books Are on Trial for ‘Obscenity’
The books at issue here are not obscene by any stretch of the imagination. And the Virginia statute that has enabled these proceedings is unconstitutional. Under the statute, the court has the authority to temporarily block all sale and distribution of the books anywhere in Virginia upon a mere finding of “probable obscenity.” And, if the court ultimately determines that the books are indeed obscene, anyone who sells or even lends the books in Virginia could face criminal prosecution, regardless of whether they had prior knowledge of the obscenity proceedings. This would impact all independent bookstores and other distributors in the state of Virginia, even if they have no knowledge that a book has been so much as challenged. Read more
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Belarus bans George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, according to reports
Belarus, a key ally of Russia, has reportedly banned the sale of Orwell’s chilling novel on totalitarianism and Big Brother. Read more
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The Power—and Necessity—of Reading Dangerously
Authors are not infallible. Each great writer is the child of her or his age, certainly. But the miraculous aspect of great books is their ability to both reflect and transcend the prejudices of the author as well as their time and place. It is this quality that allows a young woman in twentieth-century Iran to read a Greek man named Aeschylus, who lived thousands of years ago, and to empathize with him. Reading does not necessarily lead to direct political action, but it fosters a mindset that questions and doubts; that is not content with the establishment or the established. Fiction arouses our curiosity, and it is this curiosity, this restlessness, this desire to know that makes both writing and reading so dangerous. Read more
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Publishing C.E.O. Donates $500,000 to Fight Book Bans
Markus Dohle, the chief executive of Penguin Random House, said the effort “ties into the future of our democracy.” Read more
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School Board in Tennessee Bans Teaching of Holocaust Novel ‘Maus’
A school board in Tennessee voted unanimously this month to ban “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from being taught in its classrooms because the book contains material that board members said was inappropriate for students. Read more
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Pennsylvania students are protesting their school district’s ban on books by authors of color
Last October, the Central York school board unanimously banned a list of resources written by authors of color and featuring main characters of color. The banned resources range from I Am Not Your Negro, an Oscar-nominated PBS documentary about James Baldwin; to a statement on racism from the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators; to a children’s coloring book featuring African Adrinkra symbols; to an African-themed cookbook. Read more
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Self-censorship hits Hong Kong book fair in wake of national security law
Booksellers at Hong Kong’s annual book fair are offering a reduced selection of books deemed politically sensitive, as they try to avoid violating a sweeping national security law imposed on the city last year. Read more
