If you’re a book lover, one of the most alarming trends of the past few years is the rise of censorship in U.S. schools and school libraries. During this year’s Banned Books Week (Sept. 22–28), PEN America, the literary nonprofit that advocates for freedom of speech, reported more than 10,000 challenges to various titles during the 2023–24 school year, statistics that were “off the charts,” according a memo about the preliminary findings. The American Library Association tallied fewer book bans in its own preliminary report, but however you keep score, there’s no doubt that right-wing activists today feel emboldened to challenge books—especially those by and about Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ people—potentially keeping these works out of the hands of young people in many communities.
As discouraging as this state of affairs may be, the response of the literary and education communities has been inspiring. The New York Public Library, for example, has launched a Teen Banned Book Club; this fall they’re reading Mike Curato’s Flamer—one of the most frequently challenged titles in recent years—and teens nationwide will have the opportunity to discuss the book with the author online on Nov. 21.
Elsewhere, bookstores have leapt into the void. In her hometown of Gainesville, Florida, author Lauren Groff (Fates and Furies, The Vaster Wilds) opened The Lynx, a shop with an “emphasis in books that are currently challenged or banned in Florida, as well as those by BIPOC authors, LGBTQ+ authors, and Florida authors.” (According to PEN America, Florida and Iowa lead the nation in challenges.) A nonprofit associated with the store, The Lynx Watch, works to distribute banned books throughout the state.
Author Leah Johnson, who appears on the cover of this issue, is also playing a vital role in the fight to protect access to books—not just by writing them but by selling them, too. Last fall, the author of the acclaimed YA novels You Should See Me in a Crown (2020) and Rise to the Sun (2021) opened Loudmouth Books in her hometown of Indianapolis. Loudmouth specializes in books by marginalized people; the impetus for the business was the wave of legislation facilitating book banning that has swept through many states, including Indiana.
More recently, Johnson edited the middle-grade anthology Black Girl Power: 15 Stories Celebrating Black Girlhood (Freedom Fire/Disney, Nov. 12), which brings together contributions by Elise Bryant, Kekla Magoon, Ibi Zoboi, Dhonielle Clayton, and others. As Johnson tells editor at large Megan Labrise in the cover story for our Nov. 1 issue, the new Disney imprint, headed by author Kwame Mbalia, made a “big statement” by putting the book on its inaugural list: “These narratives [of adolescence] are universal but so rarely given the time and the space to shine when it comes to us Black girls,” she says.
That very challenge to the literary status quo is what often puts books like Black Girl Power in the crosshairs of would-be censors. The reactionary forces behind challenges and bans hate to expose young people to new narratives and new ways of seeing the world. Fortunately, literary citizens like Leah Johnson are fighting back with powerful stories and platforms for readers to find them. That’s something to celebrate.
Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.
