Florida banned more books than any other state during the 2023-2024 school year. The state has now released a list of all the titles removed across K12.
Books were banned in about half (33) of Florida’s 70 districts, though none were removed from its largest system, Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Bans accelerated in the wake of a 2023 law that requires schools to remove books challenged for “sexual conduct” immediately, and then conduct a review of the title.
Florida’s list contains some of the nation’s most banned books, such as Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
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Florida districts also removed classics and bestsellers. Several districts pulled Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, Richard Wright’s Native Son and Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale. Multiple novels by Stephen King, one of America’s most popular authors, were banned dozens of times, while best-selling fantasy author Sarah J. Maas was another frequent target.
The list of banned books doubled in size from the 2022-23 school year, noted the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a coalition of parent-led groups. It contends that most book challenges come from “conservative interest groups” rather than individual parents.
“We advocate for policies that give every parent an opportunity to collaborate with their schools and educators and set unique boundaries for their own children when they feel necessary,” the organization said in a statement. “We believe in a fair, thorough, and public objection process that ensures decisions reflect the needs of each school community—not the broad, district-wide censorship we see today.”
Banned books: The bigger picture
Nationally, book bans skyrocketed by 200% during the 2023-2024 school year, with the challenges coming predominantly from far-right activists targeting stories of race, sexuality and gender identity. There were 10,046 book bans in public K12 last school year, leading to the removal of 4,231 titles by 877 authors, illustrators and translators, according to the final 2023-24 count by PEN America, an anti-censorship organization. The bans occurred in 29 states and 220 districts.
Book banning is a component of a bigger challenge facing public schools, warned Sabrina Baêta, manager for PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. “Every day, we are seeing reports of author visits and book fairs canceled, libraries shuttered for excessive book reviews and heightened scrutiny and intimidation of teachers and librarians,” Baêta concluded. “Our book ban data is a bellwether of this broader climate.”
