Editor’s note: The list of banned books from PEN America was tracked from January to June of 2022. Some of these books may be back on shelves pending investigations.
When it comes to banned books in public schools, Michigan sits toward the middle-to-back of the pack according to new data from PEN America.
The nonprofit tracked school book bans the 2022-23 school year, finding that from July to December 2022 there were 1,477 instances of individual books banned, affecting 874 unique titles. It was a slight increase from the data PEN tracked from January to June of 2022, where it recorded 1,149 instances of book banning.
These bans occurred in 37 states, including Michigan, and occur mostly to books by or about people of color or LGBTQ individuals. PEN America found across its six month data collection period that 30% of the unique titles banned across the country touch on race or racism while another 26% feature LGBTQ characters or themes.
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The organization defines a school book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental officials, that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished.”
Their data also details whether the books are currently banned for the school year in both school libraries and classrooms, solely banned from classrooms, solely banned from libraries or banned pending investigation.
The list is not meant to be exhaustive, with PEN America noting the “full impact of the book ban movement is greater than can be counted, as ‘wholesale bans’ are restricting access to untold numbers of books in classrooms and school libraries.”
It also does not include banning decisions from 2023, including the decision to ban “Gender Queer: A Memoir” from Kalamazoo County’s Galesburg-Augusta Schools and remove “Jarhead” – a memoir from a Marine who fought in the Gulf War – from Hudsonville Public Schools in Ottawa County.
“The data presented here is limited. The true magnitude of book banning in the 2022-23 school year is unquestionably much higher,” the organization’s 2023 report reads. “PEN America’s researchers continue to discover books banned in the previous year, thus our reporting may not be comprehensive of all books removed from access during the six-month reporting period. Books are often removed silently and not reported publicly or validated through Public Records Requests”
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In the interest of Michigan, most of the bans are outright and apply to both the school and a classroom’s library. Good new, however: It’s not as bad as it could be.
The state reported 18 book bans across five school districts; by comparison, the state with the most bans – Texas, followed by Florida – reported 438 bans across seven districts and 357 bans across 13 districts, respectively.
With respect to Michigan, there are 16 unique titles banned between Davison Community Schools, Dearborn Public Schools, Portage Public School, Spring Lake Public Schools and St. Joseph Public Schools.
One of the banned novels, “Push,” by Sapphire, is banned in three of the districts – Davison, Dearborn and Portage – which is what brings PEN America’s banned book tally to 18, as the organization tracks bans both by overall number and by unique title.
The remaining banned books (from when the data was published) across those five district include:
- “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- “Birthday,” by Meredith Russo
- “Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook: Somatic Skills to Help You Feel Safe in Your Body, Create Boundaries, and Live with Resilience,” by Erika Shershun
- “Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America,” by Ijeoma Oluo
- “Push,” by Sapphire
- “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” by Becky Albertalli
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
- “We Are Okay,” by NIna LaCour
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson
- “Eleanor & Park,” by Rainbow Rowell
- “Flamer,” by Mike Curato
- “Red, White, and Royal Blue,” by Casey McQuiston
- “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold
- “This Book Is Gay,” by Juno Dawson
- “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe
- “What Girls Are Made Of,” by Elana K. Arnold
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