Jodi Picoult's 'Nineteen Minutes' tops PEN America of books banned in schools

Jodi Picoult's “Nineteen Minutes” has topped a database compiled by PEN America of nan books astir often pulled from schoolhouse shelves

NEW YORK -- Jodi Picoult remembers erstwhile everyone seemed to praise her caller “Nineteen Seconds," a 2007 bestseller astir a schoolhouse shooting that now tops a database compiled by PEN America of nan books astir banned successful schools.

“Not only was it recommended for young adults to read, but it was connected nan program successful schools wherever it''s now banned,” nan writer said during a caller telephone interview.

On Friday, PEN issued a study which expands upon numbers released successful September for Banned Books Week, erstwhile libraries and stores astir nan state highlighted censored works. PEN compiled much than 10,000 cases of books temporarily aliases permanently removed during nan 2023-2024 world year, astir 4 times higher than for 2021-2022. The bans affected astir 4,200 individual titles, compared to astir 1,600 2 years ago.

More than 80% of nan bans came successful Iowa and Florida, states that person passed laws restricting schoolhouse books. Around 4,500 were removed successful Florida, and much than 3,600 successful Iowa, according to PEN.

What students tin publication successful schools provides nan instauration for their lives, whether captious thinking, empathy crossed difference, individual well-being, aliases semipermanent success," PEN's head of its Freedom to Read program, Kasey Meehan, said successful a statement. "The defense of nan halfway principles of nationalist acquisition and nan state to read, learn, and deliberation is arsenic basal now arsenic ever.”

Besides “Nineteen Minutes,” books astir often removed see John Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Alice Walker's “The Color Purple,” Margaret Atwood's “The Handmaid's Tale,” Toni Morrison's “The Bluest Eye” and respective novels by romantasy favourite Sarah J. Maas. Many of nan useful had themes of sex, title aliases gender identity.

Picoult noted that objections to her book centered connected a azygous page referring to a day rape.

“There was thing gratuitous astir it. It's not porn," she said. “I deliberation that immoderate group are unhappy because it makes you look astatine nan world successful a different way. That's what's down a batch of nan bans.”