Book Bans Surge in US Schools, Targeting โขDiverse Works Including gabriel Garcรญa Mรกrquez
A wave of book removals is sweeping across American schools, with a new report detailing a recordโข 6,870 titles censored during the 2023-2024 school โขyear-a significantโฃ increase from previous years. The bans are impacting 2,308 authors, 243 illustrators, and 38 translators, and represent what PEN America calls “the normalizationโ of book banning,” โa climate reminiscent ofโข theโ Red Scare of โthe 1950s. Notably, works by Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcรญa โMรกrquez-Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years ofโ Solitude-are among the titles facing restrictions.
As July 2021, a total of 22,810 books have been removed in 45 states and 451 public โคschool districts. The bans aren’t limited toโค any single genre; while literature is most frequently targeted,even a biology textbook faced opposition in Florida for its discussion of climate change,evolution,and COVID-19. This surge in censorship isn’t driven by educational concerns, according to PEN America, butโข by external forces “exploiting the fears andโ anxieties of parents to exert ideological control over publicโค education.”
Texas, Tennessee, Idaho, and Iowaโค lead the โnation in book removals, with 1,781, 1,622, 150, and 113 titles removed respectively.Stephenโค King is the most frequently censored author, โขwith โ206 instances of his books being banned,โ followed by Ellen โคHopkins (167) and Sarah J. โฃMaas โข(162). Other frequently banned titles include Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange โฃ(23 districts) and Jennifer Niven’s Breathless (20 districts).
Florida, under Governor Ron DeSantis, has emerged as a focal point for censorship, with the 2022 law HB 1467 limiting literaryโ works with sexual allusions or LGBTQ+ content in classrooms. Theโ report underscores a patternโค of repeated โขtitle bans and coordinated โtactics aimed at shapingโฃ the curriculum and limiting student access to diverse โperspectives.