Book Banning in 2025?

By: Kyra Jenkins

Most of our readers are in high school, and in Missouri, over 300 books were banned across Missouri high schools. Here is just a short list of some of those titles:

What are these books?

Grass: Written by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, the novel is told from the perspective of a young Korean girl who is sold into sexual slavery during the war. The graphic novel serves as an anti-war piece. This book was banned by the Wentzville school district, with about 17,000 students in the district.

Woman World: Another graphic novel that tells a story about a pandemic that wipes out all men, leaving only women to survive on Earth with each other. The book was banned by the Wentzville School District.

Speak: A young adult novel that tells the story of a woman who was raped in highschool. The book is banned in the Wentzville School District.

1984: A personal favorite of mine, the book was required in the curriculum at Fort Zumwalt North. As a middle schooler, the book was an opening into dictatorships and how easy politics can manipulate a person when wielded by the wrong people. The book was banned by the Kirkwood School District with about 5,000 students.

The Handmaid’s Tale: A dystopian story set in the near-future that revelas a society where women are quiet and submissive to the men. The book was banned in 9 school districts totaling about 96,000 students.

This matters.

Almost 100,000 kids are being prevented from reading The Handmaid’s Tale. The book wouldn’t have been picked up by all of them, but now nobody can read it, even if they want to. These books, along with hundreds of others, provide deep insight on different cultures, experiences, and knowledge that would better the diversity in our country in the younger generations.

What can you do?

You can write letters to legislators in your state or make calls to those legislators. Or you can visit https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/ to explore more opportunities on the website to help from your own home.