At the Festival of Books in April, Thomas said books like hers are seen as dangerous because of the power they have to create change through empathy. An Illinois school board cited inappropriate language as a reason to ban the book in 2022 other challenges cited violence and an anti-police message. The bestseller was adapted into a 2018 film by the same name.

Published in 2017, this novel about a teenage girl who witnesses a police officer kill her childhood best friend was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Critics objected to its sexual-leaning content. In an interview with PEN America, Curato described “ Flamer” as a book about suicide prevention. This award-winning 2020 novel explores a teenage boy’s struggle to understand and accept his sexuality while at summer camp in the 1990s. Entertainment & Arts Amanda Gorman on her inauguration poem being banned at Miami school: ‘I am gutted’Īmanda Gorman’s inaugural poem ‘The Hill We Climb’ was added to the book bans taking over Florida elementary schoolsĥ.