A federal appeals court says eight books dealing with subjects including racism and transgender issues must be returned to library shelves in a rural Texas county that had removed them.
Among the books ordered returned to the library shelves are “Caste: The Origins of our Discontent,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson, and “They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group,” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. A book about a transgender teenager was also among the eight books ordered to remain on library shelves.
Loosely grouped, those books are:
• Seven “butt and fart” books, with titles like I Broke My Butt! and Larry
the Farting Leprechaun;
• Four young adult books touching on sexuality and homosexuality,
such as Gabi, a Girl in Pieces;
• Being Jazz: My Life asa (Transgender) Teen and Freakboy, both
centering on gender identity and dysphoria;
• Caste and They Called Themselves the K.K.K., two books about the
history of racism in the United States;
• Well-known picture book, In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak,
which contains cartoon drawings of a naked child; and
• It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health.
The books to be returned are:
a. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson;
b. Called Themselves the K.K.K: The Birth of an American Terrorist
Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti;
c. Spinning by Tillie Walden;
d. Being Jazz: My Life asa (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings;
e. Shine by Lauren Myracle;
f. Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle;
g. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero; and
h. Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark.
Story doesn’t mention which titles were removed, and which were allowed back on the shelves. Or what the legal difference is between the two.
The quotes from the judges were telling though.
Different article:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-appeals-court-rules-some-books-be-restored-to-texas-library-shelves/ar-BB1nLSzx
But I can’t find a list of all 8 or a list of the 17 books originally banned.
the ruling, https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/23/23-50224-CV0.pdf, doesn’t list all the initially banned books, but has this:
Loosely grouped, those books are: • Seven “butt and fart” books, with titles like I Broke My Butt! and Larry the Farting Leprechaun; • Four young adult books touching on sexuality and homosexuality, such as Gabi, a Girl in Pieces; • Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen and Freakboy, both centering on gender identity and dysphoria; • Caste and They Called Themselves the K.K.K., two books about the history of racism in the United States; • Well-known picture book, In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak, which contains cartoon drawings of a naked child; and • It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health.The books to be returned are:
a. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson; b. Called Themselves the K.K.K: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti; c. Spinning by Tillie Walden; d. Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings; e. Shine by Lauren Myracle; f. Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle; g. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero; and h. Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark.