Hate mail and threats overwhelmed the inboxes where I once had received invitations for author visits and appreciative notes from readers. Then in 2021, my dream disintegrated into an author and educator's nightmare as my novel Out of Darkness became a target for politically motivated book bans across the country.Īttacks unfolded, not just on my writing but also on young people's right to read it. I regularly visited schools as an author and got to meet teens who reminded me of the students I taught in Houston - the amazing humans who had first inspired me to write for young adults. I spent my days teaching college literature courses and writing novels. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI contentĤ.This essay by Ashley Hope Pérez is part of a series of interviews with - and essays by - authors who are finding their books being challenged and banned in the U.S.įor over a decade, I lived my professional dream. Johnson - LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicitģ. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe - LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicitĢ. Here are the books the ALA tracked as most challenged in 2022 (there was a 4-way tie for #10):ġ.
Maas, and Crank by Ellen Hopkins.Įight of the titles have remained on the list for multiple years. There are a handful of titles on the list this year that are new from 2021, including Flamer by Mike Curato, Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Most of the books on the list have been challenged with claims of including LGBTQIA+ or sexually explicit content. The graphic memoir follows Kobabe's path to gender-identity as nonbinary and queer. Once again this year, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, published in 2019, tops the ALA's list. Pelayo-Lozada says that despite the high challenge numbers, a library association poll shows a large majority of Americans don't believe in banning books.
Book News & Features Efforts to ban books jumped an 'unprecedented' four-fold in 2021, ALA report says
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