When Jodi Picoult’s novel “Nineteen Minutes” was first published in 2007, it won several awards for young people’s literature and was included in many states’ reading curriculum plans. Yet the book, which depicts the impact of a school shooting on a small New Hampshire town, took the top spot — a dubious honor at best — among the most banned books for the 2023-24 academic year, according to a report released Friday by PEN America, an organization devoted to literature and free expression.
Among its other findings, the group recorded 10,046 instances of book bans, a 200 percent increase from the previous academic year. In addition, 43 percent of those banned titles were completely removed from any access by readers (rather than merely subject to special restrictions of review). Last year, it was 27 percent. (There’s a handy guide to the various types of book bans on the PEN America website.)
Along with Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes,” the most frequently banned books in school libraries in 2023-24 include “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, and “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher.
The Harvard University alumna, who lives in New Hampshire, spoke with the Globe over the phone on Thursday.
Why do you think “Nineteen Minutes” has been banned more than any other book?
“Nineteen Minutes” is a book about how to recognize bullying before it escalates into a school shooting. The reason it has been banned has nothing to do with that, apparently, but because of a single page that depicts a date rape, which is not gratuitous or salacious but completely in line with this anti-bullying theme. [It] has the word “erection” on the page. And because of that, the parents who want it banned are saying it is porn.
The book hasn’t changed since it came out. So, it’s clearly the populace that is different. The claims have been made, from what I understand, often by parents who have not read the book and fully admit to that. It is just one of 20 of my books that have been banned, but it is the most banned book in the country right now.
What’s been the effect of the bans?
In the past four years, book banning has become exponentially explosive. And the parents who are in favor of banning books say they’re doing so in order to protect kids. Well, when you take a book off a school library shelf, what you’re doing is removing a resource that allows kids to deal with an increasingly divisive and difficult world.
Over the years since “Nineteen Minutes” was published, I’ve heard from hundreds of kids who say the book helped them feel less isolated. I’ve heard from a dozen kids who said they wanted to go into school with a gun, and reading the book made them not do it. Two school shooters, who survived and are now in prison for life, have sent me letters after reading the book, basically saying, “I wish someone had told me these things before I did it.”
Have you ever heard from anyone who was behind a ban on your book?
No, and I’ve tried. The town of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, banned “Nineteen Minutes” at a school board meeting when literally a school shooter was one town over on a middle school campus. And I wrote to the head of the school board and the superintendent multiple times. I offered to have a Zoom with them to discuss the ban. And I never even received a reply.
The other thing I think is important about “Nineteen Minutes” being banned is that when book banning began ramping up in 2020, the targets were LGBTQ and BIPOC books and authors. And now the banners have moved onto what they call “mature content.” And the reason that’s important is that it’s not just about school libraries anymore.
Public library challenges have increased by 92 percent in the past year. And what that means for the average adult is that they’re coming for what you read next. They’re coming for mature content at public libraries. Which is fantasy, romance, thrillers — those are the books they’re targeting now.
This is not the first rodeo. We’ve seen this happen in history. The way you control how a nation thinks is by making sure they’re only reading certain materials. And that’s why this is so incredibly dangerous.
What can parents, kids, readers, do to protect the local libraries and our right to read?
The best thing you can do is run for school board or your local library board because your voice needs to be equally as loud if not louder than the people who want to ban books. And we have seen increases in Moms for Liberty candidates joining public library and school boards.
On a smaller level, if you happen to live in a place where books are being banned, go get a bunch of them and stuff them in little free libraries all over your state or your district! But, honestly, the most important thing you can do right now, in this moment, is get to the polls on Tuesday and think about the candidates who are protecting freedom of expression and your freedom to read. Because once we lose that right, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to get it back.
Interview was edited and condensed.
Kate Tuttle, a freelance writer and critic, can be reached at [email protected].
This post was originally published on here
