Latest news with #KaseyMeehan
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Race, sex and the Holocaust: As book bans grow across the state, some genres see more bans
As Tennessee faces a record number of book bans and removals since December 2023, there are certain genres and themes consistently among the most-banned items. With nearly 1,400 books being either fully removed from school libraries or heavily age-restricted between December 2023 and January 2025, pursuant to the controversial 2022 Age-Appropriate Materials Act, the list of titles removed across the state may be long, but the breakdown of individual titles and themes is remarkably shorter. The top five banned titles across the state are: In total, there were 1,155 unique titles banned across the state last year. 'We see that nearly 60% of banned titles nationwide are young adult books or younger,' said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director at PEN America. 'And there's certainly books that depict all sorts of themes. They depict LGBTQ+ identities, they talk about race and racism. More and more we see books that talk about or confront real world issues like grief, death and mental health concerns and sexual violence.' Numerous titles banned in Tennessee schools deal with youth mental health and social issues, such as 'Far From the Tree: How Children and their Parents Learn to Accept One Another' by Andrew Solomon, banned in a school in Wilson County, 'Coping with Weapons and Violence in Schools and On Your Streets' by Maryann Miller and 'Drug Use and the Family' by Susan Stefano, both removed in schools in Monroe County. Meehan said a strong theme over the 2023-2024 school year was the increased removal of books that contained a reference to sex in any way. This theme was strengthened in Tennessee by the 2024 expansion of the Age Appropriate Materials Act to prohibit public school libraries from having books with 'nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse,' or any book that is 'patently offensive … or appeals to the prurient interest.' While this ban ensnares books such as 'Bioethics: Sex, Genetics and Human Reproduction' by Warren Reich and 'Date Violence' by Elaine Landau, both removed in schools in Monroe County, it especially targets books that discuss gender identity of LGBTQ+ issues, for their discussion of sex-related identity concerns, as well as books that deal with issues of race or racism. 'When we look at those two themes in particular, what's important to recognize is that these issues have been historically underrepresented in our public schools,' Meehan said. 'So if we say that 44% of banned titles feature characters of color, it's not the case that 44% of books in a public school library feature characters of color. It's that these books are being disproportionately banned.' Even a surprising number of books about the Holocaust were removed in Monroe County. In addition, some books related to book bans were also banned: the classic 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury was banned in Monroe County, and 'The Year They Burned All The Books' by Nancy Garden in Macon County. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the director at the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said these repeated titles and themes are not an accident, but rather the calculated work of small groups of people to ban the same books across the country. 'We see multiple titles challenged in schools and library districts across the country, and often that is an individual or group who will challenge 10 to 30 books all at once,' she said. 'And we're still seeing efforts to place individuals who would like to censor books on library boards and school boards across the country, in order to put in place policies that require censorship of existing library materials or prevent library staff from buying disfavored categories of library materials.' Efforts made to ban the same book multiple times across the state are not without an end goal: Tennessee is one of only a few states that has the potential to pass statewide bans on books. According to the Age Appropriate Materials Act, any book that is appealed to the Tennessee Textbook Commission, if found to be in violation of the law, would be banned in all public and charter school districts in the state. Hayden Shadden, general counsel for the commission, confirmed that they have not had any appeals as of publication. Three were filed in December, but subsequently withdrawn by the complainant. Caldwell-Stone said the push to remove books from schools is antithetical to the Constitution. 'The argument (that school library books should be banned) functions from the premise that students have no First Amendment rights and that government agencies, including school boards, can engage in the kind of censorship that they're not allowed to engage in under the First Amendment,' she said. 'The courts have been very clear on that.' Meehan said the common argument in support of bans — that children can get the book elsewhere if they want it badly enough — leaves behind a significant number of children. 'We can't say that all students have access to a public library — not all students have access to a Barnes and Noble, or a bookstore, or can purchase their own books,' she said. 'Public school libraries play a really essential role in providing free access to information. This is the purpose of our library systems: to provide access to information. And the more we restrict access to information, the more we weaken our library systems, but also more broadly, the fabric of our democracy.' The USA TODAY Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@ by phone at 931-623-9485, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: As book bans grow across Tennessee, some genres see more bans
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Happy Valentine's Day! These are the most banned romance novels in Florida, US schools
Happy Valentine's Day! It's a day for romance, new love and stories of happy relationships. But if you're looking for romance books in Florida schools, you might get your heart broken. Just in time for the holiday, PEN America released a list of romance novels from some of today's most popular authors that have been banned a lot in public schools and several are on lists of books pulled in Florida districts. Many were targeted for sexual content and were primarily books by and about women, LGBTQ+ people and people of color, the nonprofit advocacy group said in a release. "With the backdrop of book bans suppressing more and more books about sexual experiences, female pleasure, and healthy boundaries, we want to celebrate and uplift romance writers and their vast audiences," said Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program. "Books, particularly young adult books, that introduce romance and sex, can help young adults navigate universal human experiences: romance, sex, desire, and love.' More than 10,000 books were banned across 29 states in the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America said, nearly triple the year before. PEN America defines a school book ban as any book made unavailable or restricted to students due to content as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to real or threatened action by government officials. PEN America recorded 4.561 instances of book bans in 33 school districts, by their definition, in Florida's 2023-2024 school year, more than any other state. Florida's Department of Education, which maintains that no books have been banned in state schools, released a list of around 700 books that were "removed or discontinued" from public schools that year in response to an objection from a parent of a student in the school district or a resident of the county where the school district is located. Last year, top publishers Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers and Simon & Schuster sued the Florida State Board of Education and two counties over infringement of First Amendment rights for both readers and authors. A lawsuit from parents of Florida public school students opposed to the surge of book removals across the state was dismissed by a federal judge in January of this year. Here are the most popular romance books no longer available in Florida schools. The most popular romance books removed from shelves in Florida schools were: The "" series by Sarah J. Maas, a fantasy romance and New York Times best-selling series following the journey and epic love story of 19-year-old Feyre Archeron after she is brought into the faerie lands of Prythian. The first book was one of the most borrowed titles in American public libraries in 2023 and 2024, according to NPR, and is also one of the most banned in schools nationwide for sexual content. Removed in 2023-2024 school year in Bay, Brevard, Collier, Hernando, Indian River, and Manatee counties Removed in 2022-2023 school year in Clay, Escambia, Flagler and Martin counties The "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas, a fantasy young adult New York Times best-selling series about Celaena Sardothien, a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom with a tyrannical ruler. rated the first book the "Best Book of the Month for Kids & Teens" in August 2012 and the USA TODAY review praised it. It is also a frequently banned series. Removed in 2023-2024 school year in Bay, Hernando, Indian River, Leon, Manatee, Martin and Polk counties Removed in 2022-2023 school year in Martin County " by Malinda Lo, a young adult historical romance set in 1950s San Francisco where Lily Hu, a teenage daughter of Chinese immigrants, falls in love with another girl. Also a New York Times bestseller, it won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Stonewall Book Award for Young Adult Literature, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Youth Literature, and a Michael L. Printz Honor. Removed in 2023-2024 school year in Volusia County Removed in 2022-2023 school year in Clay County Red, White and Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston, a romance about the U.S. president's son falling in love with a British prince. It was a New York Times best-seller and a television adaption released by Amazon in 2023 became one of Prime's top three most-watched comedies. Removed in 2022-2023 school year in Clay County Other popular romance books on PEN America's frequently banned lists, "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, "Like a Love Story" by Abdi Nazemian and the "Twilight" series by Stephanie Meyer, did not appear on Florida's removed lists. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Top romance novels removed from Florida schools include Maas, McQuiston
