this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2026
35 points (97.3% liked)

Banned Book Club

1414 readers
1 users here now

Community dedicated to discussion of banned and challenged books.

ALA Advocacy Page

Banned Books Week

The Palace Project

Please follow this instances rules.

To find more communities on this instance, go to: !411@literature.cafe

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
gabe@literature.cafe
35
Utah Begins 2026 by Banning Three Books at All Public Schools Statewide, Leads U.S. In Bans (bookriot.com)
submitted 5 days ago by Arthur@literature.cafe to c/bannedbooks@literature.cafe
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Interesting choices...

top 8 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] TidBit@mander.xyz 17 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Read banned books! If you're in Utah, this now includes:

  1. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
  2. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
  3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
[–] etherphon@midwest.social 4 points 5 days ago

LOL wow, book #3 was like required reading for introverts when I was younger. What a shame.

[–] HisArmsOpen@crust.piefed.social 6 points 5 days ago

Shitty legislation to empower the stupid to drag everyone down.. Wait until they start to ban the gore and porn contained within science books!

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Can't say I'm that surprised about Wicked. People get drawn to it by the musicals and stay for the porn. LOL.

[–] NannerBanner@literature.cafe 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Porn? I got about halfway through the book when it first came out, and never finished it. I don't recall much porn.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/book-wicked-gregory-maguire-explicit/

In a 2014 interview, he commented, "I deliberately included a ribald, unappealing sex scene in the first 10 pages so people would know it was not for children."

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/63887-q-a-with-gregory-maguire.html

[–] NannerBanner@literature.cafe 2 points 5 days ago

Whoah, weird. I really don't remember that at all. I may need to go and give it a reread. I wonder how much else I didn't pay attention to.

[–] Libb@piefed.social 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I'm no US citizen but I think it underlines the importance for (US) parents that have the means to do it to build their very own personal library (or to make one together with other parents, maybe), filled with books they want their child to read without any self-proclaimed censor telling them what their kid can and cannot read. It also tells parents how important it should be to encourage their kids to read, as widely as possible... by example, by themselves spending time reading (instead of doomscrolling?).

Public libraries and school libraries are a wonderful place, even those that are under the control of absolute morons (polite version), but they should not be relied upon as the sole access to books. Ever. Even less so for kids.