Other frequently banned and questioned authors include novelist Jodi Picoult, manga author Yusei Matsui, and children’s book author Elana K. Arnold.
The report lists states with the highest book ban rates in 2024-25 as Florida, with 2,304 cases; Texas (1,781); and Tennessee (1,622).
“Never before in the lifetime of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including statewide bans on specific titles,” the PEN report says.
The authors of the PEN America report added that although many bans have been enacted at the local and state levels, the federal government has been using new executive orders signed by President Trump to eliminate certain degrees from Department of Defense schools on military bases; In July, nearly 600 titles were removed for lack of alignment with executive orders related to diversity, race discussions and “gender ideology extremism.”
In January, the Department of Education issued a memo calling the book ban a “joke,” and acknowledged all federal guidelines that the removal of “age-inappropriate” books could constitute violations of civil rights laws.
PEN America also noted that representations of LGBTQ+ identity in books are often considered “sexually explicit,” even in picture books. And the tango makes threethe true story of two male emperor penguins who hatch and raise a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo, and The Purim Superherowhose main character debates what costume he should wear for the joyous Jewish holiday and who has two fathers.
