JAMES PATTERSON SLAMS ‘MAXIMUM RIDE’ BAN IN MARTIN COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

of the serious injury posed to educators and students by the Stop W.O.K.E. Act,”

Leah Watson, an attorney with the ACLU, said in a press release. “All students and educators deserve to have a free and open exchange about issues related to race in our classrooms — not censored discussions that erases the history of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people, women and girls, and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis' deputy press secretary, said in a statement he’s confident the court will uphold the law.

“The Court did not rule on the merits of our appeal,” he said. “The appeal is ongoing, and we remain confident that the law is constitutional.”

According to the LDF, “The law specifically targets and places vague restrictions on educators’ ability to teach and discuss concepts around the legacy of slavery in America, white privilege, and anti-racism.”

Additionally, the law imposes harsh penalties for educators who have been found to violate the law including termination or loss of state funding.

According to the LDF universities across Florida have canceled or scaled back diversity and inclusion training and have taken down statements denouncing racism.

“This creates a hostile climate that stigmatizes discussions about race on campuses and generates fear among plaintiffs and other Black educators and students who teach or take coursework that touch upon race and gender issues,” the LDF writes in a press release.

James Patterson pushed back on one school district in Florida who removed his young adult series from elementary school students.

“If you are going to ban this book, then no kids under 12 should go to any Marvel movies,” he told USA Today.

The best-selling author, and Florida resident, urged parents to contact Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Honestly, who would want Maximum Ride banned from schools? On what possible grounds?” the author tweeted.

“What do the majority of parents in Martin County think of this arbitrary and borderline absurd decision?”

For Patterson, this is personal since he owns a house in Martin County and his niece’s children attend school in the district.

“So yes, that makes it a little personal,” he told USA Today. “One of the wonderful things about books is it allows us to find out about different ways of thinking, of living, different problems people have, different ways of finding joy. You can explain a world through a library and that’s a good thing. To cut that down is not useful.”

Maximum Ride is a series of young adult science fantasy novels about winged human-avian hybrids. Patterson’s books have sold more than $425 million copies. Another author, Jodi Picoult, also pushed back against the Martin County school district, where some of her books were removed.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with a parent deciding a certain book is not right for her child. There is a colossal problem with a parent deciding that, therefore, no child should be allowed to read that book,” she wrote in an OP-ED. “My books were removed because they were, according to the sole parent who made the challenge, ‘adult romance that should not be on school shelves.’ It is worth noting I do not write adult romance. The majority of the books that were targeted do not even have a kiss in them. What they do have, however, are issues like racism, abortion rights, gun control, gay rights, and other topics that encourage kids to think for themselves.”

Last year, DeSantis signed a law that requires school libraries in the state to seek community input on the materials made available to children, which has subsequently encouraged a new wave of books bans across the state.