Book Banning at Its Most Ironic: How “Ban This Book” Got Banned

By Rilewa Ayoade

Lately, it seems like everywhere you look in the U.S., another book is being banned.

Measured in statistics from PEN America, during the 23-24 school year, over 3,300 books were

banned, an increase of 33% from the year prior. Books continue to get banned like clockwork,

stopping select titles in states like Florida, Utah, Texas, and others from reaching student’s

hands. While the rampant form of censorship has been stopped in some states, such as Illinois,

and California, which have passed bills to protect books, the issue is still widespread throughout

the United States.

With the sheer amount of books being banned, you can only assume that there’s some

sort of system to decide what gets banned. This is not the case, however. Books have been

banned for a plethora of reasons, not necessarily following logic either. With reasons ranging

from claiming a book contains “age inappropriate”, or “sexually explicit” content, many of the

reasons cited for challenged books are ambiguous at best, and largely open to interpretation.

No book is safe. Even beloved classics, such as The Blue Eye by Toni Morrison, are being

challenged and banned in certain states.

It’s a story that keeps repeating itself. A book is challenged, at a district, or occasionally

state level by a select group of citizens, and the resulting effect impacts the quality of education

that schools of students have access to. There have been so many variations of this story told,

through news outlets, student papers, word of mouth, and even through a book itself. Which

incidentally, got banned. Ban This Book is a book written and published by Alan Gratz in the

2010s. It follows the main character, Amy Anne Ollinger, an African-American student in the

fourth grade, as she deals with book bans in her school.

Gratz first got the idea for the book after seeing an online story circulating about a high

school student who ran a library of banned books at her school. Even though the story was later

established as a hoax, the plot had more truth to it than one would think. Ban This Book tells

Amy’s story as she tries to borrow a book from her school library, and finds out that it has been

banned by the school’s PTA at the urging of a parent. In response to the bans, she creates a

banned book library which she runs out of her locker. When this gets her school librarian fired,

Amy, and other students protest against the censorship happening in their school.

The plot seems relatively to the point, but fighting against censorship isn’t always as

straightforward in real life. Gratz’ book has come under scrutiny in a Florida school district,

being challenged, and ultimately banned due to action from a conservative parent group. Citing

“sexual content” as the force behind the ban, it is largely unclear why exactly the book was

banned, the vote passing at the close margin of 3–2 in the Indian River County school district.

Gratz commented on the situation himself expressing incredulity at the irony of the state of book

bans. Calling his book being banned “ironic”, he also noted that recent efforts to ban books were

centered on books that contained marginalized community representation, such as books that

contained people of color, or LGBTQIA+ themes.

The state of book bans in America is troubling and continues to evolve. Banning books

without rhyme or reason deprives students of invaluable educational material, and the amount

of books banned every year continues to rise.. The situation isn’t hopeless though, especially

when everyone contributes in their own way. Some ways to combat book bans at home are:

Reading banned books. Whether in a Reading club, with a group of friends, or just by

yourself, reading a banned book and discussing it with people can get people talking

about the book, and by extension help raise awareness.

Take part in Banned Books Week. Banned books week is a yearly event that

highlights and promotes banned books. It aims to encourage the consumption of

challenged books and to promote the freedom to read.

Write a letter. Writing a letter, to an editor, challenged or banned author, or to boards

trying to ban books in your communities is a great way to get your voice heard. From

offering support to authors, to making your case of why a book is better left unhampered,

a letter is a versatile way to make a change.

Happy Reading and Writing!