The majority of books were called inappropriate because some people considered them to be sexually explicit, have sexually explicit images or include sexual references. Some books dealt with the LGBTQ experience, and one was challenged for allegedly promoting “an anti-police message,” the ALA said.
The organization has been collecting data about banned books since 1990, but it has published the list since at least 2001. The lists are based on media stories and reports sent to the ALA by libraries and schools.
ALA President Patricia Wong said last year the organization tracked the highest number of attempted book bans since her organization began compiling its list of the most challenged books.
While the ALA supports parents’ decisions over their child’s reading and believes they should not have those choices dictated by others, Wong said students’ access to books should not be restricted.
“Young people need to have access to a variety of books from which they can learn about different perspectives. So, despite this organized effort to ban books, libraries remain ready to do what we always have: make knowledge and ideas available so people are free to choose what to read,” Wong said in a statement.
Criticism switched from racial justice to gender identity
The most-challenged book of 2021 was “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, which discusses the non-binary author’s journey with her own identity. Kobabe’s book has been banned or challenged from school libraries in at least a dozen states.
Kobabe previously told CNN he wants people who are calling “Gender Queer” pornography to read the whole book.
“Read the whole thing and judge for yourself, don’t just go based on the one or two tiny clips you’ve seen on social media,” Kobabe said.
The students sued their school district in February over the decision to remove a total of eight books from school libraries. The district argued the novels were banned because they discuss issues surrounding race, gender and sexual identity, according to the lawsuit.
“Banning my book won’t stop me from existing, my story from existing, or future generations of kids of like me existing,” Johnson said.
“What is at stake when we ban these books are actual lives who need to read their story and about characters like them so they too know they can exist and thrive in this world,” they added.
The list, Johnson said, is empowering them to write even more stories.
Source : CNN