The American Library Association Released the Ten Most Challenged Titles of 2023

The list of the ten most challenged book titles of 2023 was released on Monday by the American Library Association. The nonprofit organization tracks alleged book bans nationwide. 

One complaint is that seven of the ten books deal with LGBTQ themes. The book at the top of the list is a third-time winner.

Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” a graphic memoir that chronicles the author coming out as nonbinary, topped the list for the third year in a row. The other LGBTQ-themed titles on the list include George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” Juno Dawson’s “This Book Is Gay” and Mike Curato’s “Flamer.”

“In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” American Library Association President Emily Drabinski said in a statement accompanying the list.

“We are fighting for the freedom to choose what you want to read,” Drabinski added. “Shining a light on the harmful workings of these pressure groups is one of the actions we must take to protect our right to read.”

Here’s the thing – we’re talking about public schools here. In most cases, the books considered inappropriate for young children are removed from the classroom and relocated to the school library in sections meant for older students. The left likes to call it book banning but the books aren’t banned from schools. 

Another option for parents who want their children exposed to the books in question at an early age can find them in public libraries. And, there are bookstores for those wishing to purchase them for their child’s home library. 

Conservative activists and politicians are made to be the bad guys in the argument. Moms for Liberty, for example, are a frequent target of the left. That group was founded by two moms who became concerned about what was happening in schools. Instead of classroom instruction, many lessons turned into discussions that were more about indoctrination to normalize the LGBTQ agenda. 

Many parents want some topics taught at home by them, not in school by teachers. Issues of sex and gender are included in that line of thinking. Parents are their children’s first teachers and that doesn’t stop once they go to school. 

The American Library Association announced that the number of books challenged in libraries across the country spiked in 2023. The number rose by 65% from 2022. It was the highest level ever recorded by the group. 4,240 individual book titles were targeted for removal. The number of titles in 2022 was 2,571. 

The most challenged books of 2023 — the top five of which all had LGBTQ themes — also included Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Ellen Hopkins’ “Tricks,” Jesse Andrews’ “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan’s “Let’s Talk About It,” and Patricia McCormick’s “Sold.”Three of the titles on the list were not specifically flagged for LGBTQ themes. “The Bluest Eye,” widely considered a literary classic, drew complaints because it features depictions of rape and incest, according to the library association. It was also “claimed to be sexually explicit” and flagged for “EDI content,” an acronym that refers to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, head of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, admits that more of the challenges are coming from relatively few activists. The hysteria may be overstated. 

“We’re not seeing an individual read a book and raise a concern about a book,” she says. “We’re seeing organized groups go to school boards, go to library boards, demanding the removal of dozens, if not hundreds, of books at a time, they are simply downloading lists from advocacy groups and demanding removal of those books.”

But Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says his research over the past two years shows that books in large part end up surviving their challenges.

“The [books] that are being taken away are very sexually explicit,” he says. “It’s reasonable to get alarmed if and when these books are being taken away, but to be alarmed when these books are challenged just shows that parents are paying attention and just want to register their part in the democratic process of conversation.”

Parents have a right to have a say in their child’s classroom instruction. Teacher unions and their fellow travelers may not like that but parents know what is best for their children. 

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