The school district in Fort Worth, Texas, has removed more than 100 books from its libraries, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
The book removals are the latest in a long string of book bans that have taken place over the last few years.
The district’s move came after Texas enacted House Bill 900 over the summer. The law mandates that school districts review their library collections for sexually explicit content. The Fort Worth district kept its libraries closed for two weeks as school started in order to complete the review.
Among the authors whose books were removed was George R.R. Martin, whose A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels were all included on the list of removed titles. Another fantasy series removed from the libraries was Sarah J. Maas’ frequently banned Court of Thorns and Roses.
Young adult author Ellen Hopkins had 15 books removed, including Perfect and Tilt, while Lauren Myracle had four of her novels banned. Eleven of the 13 books on the American Library Association’s list of the most challenged books of 2022 were on Fort Worth’s list, including the top three: Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
