By Josslyn Caskey
Staff writer
Books. Masterpieces of literature so powerful that they can take you to far-off places without having to leave your bedroom. So when schools or communities pull books from their shelves just for talking about racism and how it’s affecting America it breaks my heart. Books are tools used to educate and evaluate the world around us.
In 2021 over 1,600 books were banned from schools. Some of the common ones being Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. These are just a few of the thousands of books across America. But I’d like to draw attention to Gender Queer Currently the number one most banned book among schools. But why?
Gender Queer is a graphic Memoir written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe. The book explores Kobabe’s childhood to adulthood. As well as covering topics such as gender identity and sexual orientation.
So why are schools banning books like Gender Queer and The Hate U Give?
Well in an article written by Smithsonian Magazine in September 2022, “About 41 percent of the banned titles explicitly address LGBTQ themes, making these the biggest target of the bans.” Following that, 21 percent are books covering topics of racism.
So why is this such a big issue? Banning books can cause a ripple effect. When people restrict their children from reading certain books because of their beliefs it can cause other children to do the same and as the ripple continues to grow it can cause gaps in knowledge for young readers.