Sabrina Baêta

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Utah Prevents Students From Bringing Banned Books to School

2 months ago | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta

There are a few things Utah students can’t bring to school. Weapons. Vaping devices. Judy Blume’s Forever... Based on a new interpretation of a state law, Utah is forbidding students from bringing banned books to school. The updated guidance from the Utah State Board of Education, first reported by Utah’s KUER, says banned books should be prohibited on school property.
The 23 Most Banned Picture Books of the 2023-2024 School Year

2 months ago | pen.org | Jeremy Young |Kristen Shahverdian |Sabrina Baêta |Samantha LaFrance

Picture books featuring gay or transgender characters or naked butts — human or otherwise — were among the most frequently banned in U.S. public schools in the 2023-2024 school year. PEN America counted more than 10,000 book bans in the 2023-2024 school year affecting more than 4,000 unique titles, with about 45% of the bans occurring in Florida and 36% in Iowa. Most bans targeted young adult or adult titles, but about 2% of bans were of picture books for the youngest readers.
It’s Not a Hoax: Trump Administration Dismisses Book Ban Complaints

Jan 24, 2025 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta |Samantha LaFrance

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on Friday dismissed 11 complaints and six allegations related to book bans, saying it was ending “Biden’s book ban hoax.”PEN America counted more than 10,000 instances of school book bans in the 2023-2024 school year, nearly triple the number in the previous year. Book bans in United States public school classrooms and libraries are no hoax. You don’t have to take our word for it.
Native American Heritage Now: An Interview With Dr. Debbie Reese

Nov 13, 2024 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta |Samantha LaFrance

At the tail end of another year that has threatened and targeted books by Native Americans–from book bans to incorrect reclassifications–the work of Dr. Debbie Reese becomes extremely important. Her website, American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL), is a repository of information on Native American heritage that acts, at once, as both an archive and a record, especially of misrepresentation of culture in literature.
Beyond the Shelves: Three Years of Book Bans and Educational Censorship

Nov 1, 2024 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta |Samantha LaFrance

The numbers are staggering. Four hundred books removed from shelves in Elkhorn, Wisconsin following a single parent’s objection. Sixteen hundred books suspended in Escambia County, Florida after the passage of a state law. Three thousand books yanked in Iowa last fall. Over 10,000 book bans nationwide in the 2023-24 school year. Now in its fourth consecutive school year, the movement to ban books that has sowed chaos in public education shows few signs of dissipating.
The Censor’s Cut: Ellis Angel Makes Art From Banned Books

Nov 1, 2024 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta |Samantha LaFrance

For Banned Books Week, artistEllis Angelfound her work, The Censor’s Cut: Weavings for Intellectual Freedom not in a gallery, not at an art fair, but at a bookstore in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At Magic City Books, titles including A Court of Mist and Fury, Gender Queer, Flamer, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, did not just sit on shelves but hung transformed–all shredded and rewoven, with the bright yellow “Banned Books” tape plastered across their backs.
From Howl to Now: Tracing the History of Censorship

Oct 10, 2024 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta

It is 1957. San Francisco. Two undercover cops enter City Lights Bookstore and arrest the cashier. Also in cuffs is owner and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti. His crime: publishing Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems. His charge: Selling obscene material. It is 2024. All across the United States. More than 10,000 instances of book bans are recorded by PEN America in the past academic year.
Sanctions Against Amy Wax Raise Alarms For Academic Freedom

Oct 10, 2024 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta |Samantha LaFrance

After years of embarrassing the University of Pennsylvania with her extreme and frequently racist views, the school has had enough of Amy Wax – academic freedom be damned.
New Report Find Unprecedented Surge in School Books Bans

Apr 16, 2024 | pen.org | Sabrina Baêta

Report Examines a Wave of Scutiny Over Books on Sexual Violence and Rape (NEW YORK) — The number of individual books banned by schools is soaring to a record level, according to a new PEN America report Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis. The report documents nearly 4,000 instances of book banning during the first half of the current school year – more than in the entire previous 2022-2023 school year.
Frequently Banned Books Featuring Transgender Stories

Mar 30, 2023 | pen.org | Lisa Tolin |Sabrina Baêta

HomeFrequently Banned Books Featuring Transgender StoriesThis Friday, PEN America acknowledges International Transgender Day of Visibility and celebrates transgender authors and illustrators and creatives. In national efforts to ban books and restrict content on LGBTQ+ characters and themes, stories on transgender individuals and characters are commonly challenged and banned, making up about 9% of banned books.