Cobb County Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday the removal of 13 more books from school libraries, just two weeks into the new academic year.
That makes a total of 20 books that have now been removed from district media centers.
“We did not make this decision casually, but did so after reviewing the content in question,” Ragsdale said at a school board meeting. “We are declining to provide access to materials with sexually explicit content in the same way as I’ve previously stated we decline to provide access to R-rated movies.”
District staff has been reviewing materials in school libraries since at least January. Officials in Marietta City Schools undertook a similar effort at the end of 2023 and removed 23 books from their media centers. Both school systems have been criticized for restricting access to books and for allegedly targeting books that feature LGBTQ+ characters. Several of the books on the Cobb list made The New York Times Best Sellers list.
Ragsdale said the district has more than 1 million books in its collection that portray diverse characters and voices.
The newly banned books are:
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
- “Casual Vacancy” by J. K. Rowling
- “City of Thieves” by David Benioff
- “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins
- “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins
- “It Starts With Us” by Colleen Hoover
- “Juliette Takes a Breath” by Gabby Rivera
- “Laid: Young People’s Experience with Sex in an Easy-Access Culture” by Shannon T. Boodram
- “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur
- “Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson
- “Push” by Sapphire
- “The Infinite Moment of Us” by Lauren Myracle
- “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
The district previously banned seven other books:
- “Blankets” by Craig Thompson
- “Flamer” by Mike Curato
- “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover
- “Lucky” by Alice Sebold
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
- “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher
About the Author
