AP: “Florida Education Officials Report Hundreds of Books Pulled From School Libraries”

From the Associated Press:

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

All have been pulled from the shelves of some Florida schools, according to the latest list compiled by the Florida Department of Education tallying books removed by local school districts.”

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The list released for the 2023-2024 school year includes titles by American literary icons like Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, as well as books that have become top targets for censorship across the country because they feature LGBTQ+ characters, discussions of gender and sexuality, and descriptions of sexual encounters, such as “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe. Conservative advocates have labeled such content “pornographic.”

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Also on the list of books removed from libraries are accounts of the Holocaust, such as “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” So is a graphic novel adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s seminal work on censorship and surveillance.

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In a statement to The Associated Press, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education maintained there are no books being banned in Florida and defended the state’s push to remove “sexually explicit materials” from schools.

Learn More, Read the Complete Article (about 780 words)

See Also: Complete List of Books Removed From Florida Schools (via Fl. Dept. of Education)
35 pages; PDF.

Filed under: Libraries, News, School Libraries