Associated Press
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.
All have been pulled from the shelves of some Florida schools, according to the latest list compiled by the Florida Department of Education tallying books removed by local school districts.
Recent changes to state law have empowered parents and residents to challenge school library books and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books have been restricted in their schools. Florida continues to lead the country in pulling books from school libraries, according to analyses by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.
“A restriction of access is a restriction on one’s freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students lose the ability to access books that mirror their own lived experiences, to access books that help them learn and empathize with people who … have different life experiences.”
The list released for the 2023-2024 school year includes titles by American literary icons like Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, as well as books that have become top targets for censorship across the country because they feature LGBTQ+ characters, discussions of gender and sexuality, and descriptions of sexual encounters, such as “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe. Conservative advocates have labeled such content “pornographic.”
Also on the list of books removed from libraries are accounts of the Holocaust, such as “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” So is a graphic novel adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s seminal work on censorship and surveillance.
“Everywhere from Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’, George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, a co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges in the state. “If you take the time to look at that list, you will recognize that there is an issue with … this movement.”
In a statement to The Associated Press, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education maintained there are no books being banned in Florida and defended the state’s push to remove “sexually explicit materials” from schools.
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