https://pen.org/top-52-banned-books-since-2021/
"The 52 most banned books of the last four school years include National Book
Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, bestsellers, and beloved books by authors
including Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, and Judy Blume.
Since PEN America began tallying school book bans in 2021, thousands of books
have been targeted repeatedly – as many as 147 times for John Green’s popular
young adult novel
Looking for Alaska and 142 for bestselling author Jodi
Picoult’s book centered around a school shooting,
Nineteen Minutes. Seven of
bestselling author Sarah J. Maas’ books appear in the top 52, along with seven
by young adult author Ellen Hopkins.
PEN America has documented 22,810 cases of book bans in U.S. public schools
since it began counting in 2021, wiping out everything from classic literature
to children’s picture books. Bans have occurred in 45 states and 451 public
school districts.
Censorship proponents frequently frame their movement as a drive to remove
“porn” from schools, but many of the most banned books don’t contain so much as
a kiss. Instead, many explore themes of race and racism or reflect LGBTQ+
identities, particularly those of the transgender community. Others reflect the
realities of sexual abuse and violence, something far too many children
experience outside the pages of a book.
If groups pushing censorship consider widely read classics indecent, if they
can come for the likes of John Green and Toni Morrison, is anything off
limits?"
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
