Four More Books Banned from All Utah Public Schools; 27 Now Banned Statewide

Last month, the Maya Angelou estate joined in a lawsuit filed against the state of Utah’s book banning law. The suit challenges the legality of Utah’s “sensitive materials” law, which had at that point banned 22 books from every public school in the state. Just days later, the state would add a 23rd title to the list, Bag of Bones by Stephen King.

This week, Utah has added four more books to its list of titles banned from every public school in the state, including an additional title by one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Those books are Breathless by Jennifer Niven, The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley, The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Renee Nault, and Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold (a party in the lawsuit against the state).

That brings the total to 27 books banned statewide.

Utah passed one of the strictest bills related to books in public schools in 2024. House Bill 29 (HB 29) allows parents to challenge books they deem “sensitive material” and it also outright bans books from all public schools in the state if those books have been deemed “objective sensitive material” or “pornographic” per state code in at least three public school districts or two public school districts and five charter schools statewide. The bill went into effect July 1, 2024, and it started with 13 titles on it.

The bill is retroactive, meaning that titles which met the state’s guidelines prior to the bill’s start date were included on the list. Per HB 29, any time a public or charter school removes a book deemed “sensitive material,” they must notify the State Board of Education. If that book meets the threshold of removals, all schools will be notified and expected to dispose of it.

There are now 27 books prohibited in any Utah public school. Of them, 21 are written by women. The list is as follows:

Blankets by Craig Thompson (2003)

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas (2018)

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (2016)

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (2021)

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (2015)

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (2017)

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (2016)

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins (2010)

Forever by Judy Blume (1975)

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2014)

Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood (2003)

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins (2012)

What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold (2017)

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (2008)

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (2018)

Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (2019)

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins (2009)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (2006)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (2007)

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (1995)

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (2007)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)

Bag of Bones by Stephen King (1998)

Breathless by Jennifer Niven

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Renee Nault

Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold

What is important to understand about the law is that despite claims this is about “local control,” schools in the state are forced to follow the decisions made in other districts. There are 42 public school districts in Utah, but only nine districts have accounted for the book bans. Among those, Davis has been included in 26 of the bans and Washington, 25. Nebo has been part of eight bans, with Alpine, Jordan, and Toole school districts each account for seven. In other words, two school districts in the whole state account for the vast majority of bans.

We’re going to continue to see more books added to this list in Utah as the school year carries on. These are not, of course, the only books being banned in the state where book bans are happening, despite claims by the federal Department of Education. Individual school districts are allowed to ban any books they deem inappropriate–which, of course, helps add more titles to the state list as only three districts need to remove a book before the book must be removed everywhere.

Utah is not the only state with such a book list. South Carolina also retains a sanctioned list of books that must be removed in every public school district. Their list contains 21 titles, making them the most censorious state when it comes to state-sanctioned book bans. There is a pending lawsuit in that state as well, brought by the ACLU on behalf of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians and three public school students under the age of 18.

Tennessee has the legal mechanisms for creating statewide school book bans as well, though it has yet to add any titles to a list–in that state, the Secretary of State has instead targeted public libraries. And though there is no law in the state that permits creation of a state-sanctioned banned list, Florida officials have also distributed a list of books the state deems inappropriate and necessary to be removed from school libraries anyway.

None of these laws apply to private or homeschool institutions. That’s intentional.

Book bans in Utah are coming in waves, so anticipate more titles to be added to the list in the coming weeks. The state is working its way backwards from the date of the law’s implementation–so chances are as we see more books being banned here, they’ll continue to be older and older titles.

Clearly, the lawsuit filed against HB 29 isn’t deterring the most important work in the state education system: removing books that have been on shelves for decades. If anything, it has accelerated the book bans since January this year.