ST. LOUIS — The 97 books banned in schools across St. Louis this fall cover topics like anatomy, photography and the Holocaust. There are books that are also popular TV series, including “Game of Thrones,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Walking Dead” and “Watchmen.”
And as life imitates art, Kirkwood School District banned a comic book adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984,” the cautionary tale about government mind control.
A new state law banning “explicit sexual material” — defined as any visual depiction of sex acts or genitalia, with exceptions for artistic or scientific significance — went into effect at the end of August and applies to both public and private schools.
People are also reading…
Teachers and librarians have scoured their book lists for any applicable content at the direction of lawyers. But interpretation of the law varies by geography, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of public records:
• Ten school districts in St. Louis city and mostly inner suburbs plan to ignore the law and not change their library collections. University City posted a photo this week of banned books displayed in the middle school library along with a sign reading “We Read Banned Books.”
• Four suburban districts — Francis Howell in St. Charles County and Kirkwood, Lindbergh and Rockwood in St. Louis County — each removed more than 12 books from their schools.
• Wentzville School District banned one book and pulled 223 others “for further review,” including dozens of art history books and “Children’s Bible Stories.”
• Two Jefferson County districts, Fox and Festus, banned no books. A Festus spokesman clarified that materials falling under the law “were never in school libraries in the first place.”
The number of book bans nationwide this school year is on track to top last year’s record total, according to the American Library Association. The spike comes amid a culture war over how educators should teach about race, gender and sexuality.
“When you dictate what people can read, what people can choose from, that’s the mark of an authoritarian society, not a democratic society,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the association’s office for intellectual freedom. “We really have to question what we intend for the education of our young people.”
The local map of banned books tends to align with political leanings, with districts in conservative areas removing more titles. Suburban school boards in St. Charles County and west St. Louis County have also faced repeated book challenges from residents over the last two years.
The three books most frequently targeted were “The Handmaid’s Tale” graphic novel, banned in 10 local school districts; “Gender Queer,” banned in seven districts and “Watchmen,” banned in four districts. Half of the 10 books most frequently pulled from classrooms and school libraries feature LGBTQ characters and themes, and several others involve racism.
Of the 97 books that have been banned by schools in the St. Louis area, 86 were targeted by just one district. High-profile examples include:
• Ritenour School District banned “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust that depicts Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. When “Maus” was banned earlier this year by a Tennessee school district, the U.S. Holocaust Museum said the book “has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors.”
• Lindbergh banned “A Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman,” about the radical political activist and anarchist, along with several volumes in the “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead” series.
• In addition to “1984: The Graphic Novel,” Kirkwood banned “Crime and Punishment: A Graphic Novel,” “Annie Leibovitz at Work” about the celebrity photographer, and “The Human Body in Action,” a 1999 textbook with a chapter called “Making Babies.”
The ACLU of Missouri issued a statement last month saying school library books are not subject to the new state law because they have “already been screened under nationally well-established standards for selecting material that take into account the entire piece.”
But some school leaders said the threat of prosecution requires a conservative approach to culling books.
“The unfortunate reality of Senate Bill 775 is that, now in effect, it includes criminal penalties for individual educators. We are not willing to risk those potential consequences and will err on the side of caution on behalf of the individuals who serve our students,” said Kirkwood spokeswoman Steph Deidrick.
Table: Books banned most by area school districts
The Post-Dispatch contacted 28 area school districts to ask which books, if any, they banned from their shelves. This table shows the most-banned books among the districts that responded. The 28 districts included all those in St. Louis County, as well as St. Louis Public Schools, and the Festus, Fox, Fort Zumwalt, Francis Howell and Wentzville districts. Three districts did not provide data: Fort Zumwalt, Jennings and Webster Groves.
| Book | Num. districts |
|---|---|
| The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel | 10 |
| Gender Queer: A Memoir | 7 |
| Watchmen | 5 |
| Flamer | 4 |
| Home After Dark | 4 |
| The Sun and Her Flowers | 4 |
The Missouri Library Association denounced the book bans, saying schools need to protect academic freedom for their students and autonomy for their educators.
“In choosing to preemptively remove graphic novels from your collection, you are sending the message to your students that you support (the law’s) intent, which is to chill access to information, art, and culturally relevant materials in your collection,” reads a Sept. 9 letter from the association to Rockwood administrators. “We ask you as leaders in your district to have courage in the face of this law, to support your staff and your students, and to stand with us against censorship.”
The bill’s sponsor state Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, tweeted this month that he is “proud to have banned these books in school libraries. It’s sick that people think this is appropriate for school age children.”
Students react to book bans
No private schools have reported pulling books in response to the law. High school students in an AP Literature course at Crossroads College Prep in St. Louis described the book bans as patronizing, insulting and disturbing.
“Banning these books weaves another layer onto this blanket of ignorance,” said Tré Humphries, 17.
In a recent class, Crossroads students discussed “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison and other books that have been banned. English teacher and co-head of school Sarah Pierson Wolff said a lawyer for Crossroads has advised administrators about the new state law, but that no books have been removed.
“The idea of trying to limit what people have access to is something we are fighting against,” Wolff said. “For somebody to say a book is dangerous is scary.”
Book bans are also known to backfire, inspiring students to seek out books that otherwise would sit untouched on the library shelf.
“The fact is, if you’re an enterprising teenager and you want a copy of ‘Gender Queer’ you’re going to get it,” said Linda Johnson, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library in New York. “Either the elected officials or parents or school administrators are naïve or there’s something else at play.”
In April, the library launched Books Unbanned, offering free online access to its entire collection for 13- to 21-year-olds. There have been spikes in demand from students living in school districts that banned titles, Johnson said.
Families in Wentzville, where the school district is being sued over book bans, will partner with the ACLU to host a “students’ rights” strategy session on Oct. 2 at the local library.
“It’s important for students to learn how to advocate for themselves,” said Zebrina Looney, whose four children attended Wentzville schools. “They’re the ones going off to college and potentially not equipped with the knowledge that their counterparts had.”
Graphic novels targeted
Jerry Craft hated reading as a kid and thinks it’s because the African American protagonists were either enslaved, imprisoned or fighting for civil rights.
“As a 12-year-old, why couldn’t I have a Harry Potter?” Craft said. “I write the books I wish I had when I was a kid. Kids just want to be seen.”
When Craft heard his book “New Kid” had been challenged by parents in Texas because of “critical race theory,” he had to Google the term. The Newbery Award-winning graphic novel is about a Black boy who experiences culture shock when he transfers to a private school.
“My goal was to tell a story that was loosely based on my life and the lives of my two sons and the lives of a bunch of my friends,” said Craft, who spoke about banned comic books Thursday at St. Louis Central Library. “One of the things that most people don’t do is actually read the book or ask a kid what they think of the book. That’s one of the biggest problems — the kids are often an afterthought.”
Teachers say graphic novels are valuable tools for engaging reluctant readers, English learners and those with learning disabilities. The visuals combined with text can lead to deeper understanding and analysis of a book.
But there is a general misunderstanding of the term graphic novel, which refers to the comic-strip illustrated format of the books and not the content, said Jeff Trexler, interim director of the New York-based Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Federal lawmakers on Thursday marked Banned Books Week by introducing resolutions condemning school book bans, calling them unconstitutional.
“The general tragedy of banning books in schools is they are protected classes against discrimination,” Trexler said. “You’re going to have people thrown into jail for showing material that’s protected by the First Amendment.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
