THEUSA:ALANDOFOPPORTUNITY, JUSTICEANDBOOKBANNING

By Raya Gupta '25

Throughout history, books have been banned to prevent the spread of ideas because ideas are dangerous Ideas can overthrow governments and transform societies Ideas are the frontrunners of change. Maybe that is why those who prefer the unjust status quo try to block their flow. Banning books is censorship and it shouldn’t be happening in a country with freedom of press But it is In the United States of America, books are being banned from schools. From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles The 1,648 titles are by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators, and 18 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,553 people altogether. These statistics are an underestimation; some bannings go unreported The most banned authors include winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Booker Prize, the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Medal, the Eisner Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the NAACP Image Award, the GLAAD Award for Media Representation, the Stonewall Award, and more.

These ideas are essential for readers young and old to address, acknowledge, and understand. In banning books, so much potential for connection, learning, and understanding is lost – that moment of finding oneself in a book or understanding a differing perspective is gone. And by stripping identities off an approved page, people are being deprived of the understanding that they are not alone

The vast majority of books banned in the US have protagonists or secondary characters either of color or identifying within the LGBTQ+ community Many banned books address racism in the US, gender, sexuality and sexual education.

Books that express unethical, immoral or truly inappropriate content should be banned, but the books that are being banned in the US right now are being banned not because they could influence people to condone the holocaust or expose young children to overtly sexual content, they are being banned because they could encourage people to embrace the existence of a wide array of sexual and gender identities or expose the atrocities of systemic racism and injustice in the US

These books are being banned because they don’t run with the narrative that a conservative, cisgender, heterosexual, white person has built and because that person is frightened of that narrative being revealed for its flimsy, narrow minded and false self The vast majority of book bannings take place in conservative, republican (or red) states. Texas is the state with the largest quantity of banned books, along with Florida and Pennsylvania. The movement to ban books is intertwined with political movements that grew throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including fights against mask mandates and virtual school, as well as disputes over critical race theory.

It is definitely a recommended read for anyone, especially those interested in realistic fiction and memoir!

Furthermore, banning books is deeply undemocratic because it often seeks to impose restrictions on all students and families based on the preferences of those calling for the bans and notwithstanding polls that consistently show that Americans of all political persuasions oppose book bans There have been efforts to combat book banning, including a lawsuit filed by Pen America and Penguin Random House against a Florida School District. The following are reviews by ISF students of books that have been banned in school libraries in the US Join the fight against injustice simply by picking one up and reading it

Gender Queer

Gender Queer, written by Maia Kobabe, was the most frequently banned book in the US. It is a graphic memoir with a beautiful art style and a fascinating story of self-acceptance and growth told with the perfect balance of humor and insight It is probably not an appropriate book for middle school students due to mature content, but it should be perfectly fine for high schoolers and could be enlightening for older students struggling with questions of identity

This One Summer

This One Summer, a graphic novel written by Mariko Takami and illustrated by Jillian Takami, was banned for profanity, sexual references and “certain illustrations” It follows the story of 13 year-old Rose who spends the summer at a cottage with her childhood friend Windy as they witness the degradation of Rose’s parents' relationship and older teenagers making bad decisions It is a narrative of children growing up and facing the harsher sides of the world, a story of reality, imperfection and enduring friendship. It received awards for its moving story and beautiful illustrations, any fan of bildungsroman should check it out

Heartstopper

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman is a beautifully crafted, joyful graphic novel It tackles many difficult issues tactfully but without censorship. It really is so so good, and I cannot imagine why someone would ban this based only on the fact that it is spreading diversity! We need more books like this in the world!

–Irene Alonso Cassio, Grade 8

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is an eye-opening novel of the former beauty and current horrors of Afghanistan, which takes the reader through the streets and kite-filled skies of Kabul to truly observe the decay of an entire nation at the hands of extremists and foreign powers, and the stark differences between western ideologies and Afghanistan 10/10 read, but not recommended to people under the age of 14.

–Liam Barbieri, Grade 10

To conclude, banning books is undemocratic and unjust. It demonstrates the way the spirit of what America should be has warped into an unrecognizable monster. Children can not read freely because in a country so polarized, knowledge is too dangerous Influence is too important to allow people to form their own opinions, guided by the diverse array of themes presented by authors who embarked on that career path in order to help readers find themselves, find truth and find hope Authors strive to change the world or at least someone’s world with their writing. How can a book change the world if the world isn’t allowed to see it? The upper school library is offering students the opportunity to challenge censorship by reading a book. Next year those books may no longer be on display, but they will be in the library and students will have the power to access knowledge that others are denied So access that knowledge for yourselves, and for the students who can’t.

For more information and statistics on banned books in the US visit https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growingmovement-to-censor-books-in-schools/