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Book bans in public schools are a hot topic right now, and groups like the American Library Association and PEN America have been diligently tracking the titles that have been challenged or banned (whether temporarily or permanently) in recent years. And a new report from PEN America has revealed a startling reality for American public schools. 

PEN America's study, Banned in the USA, reports Stephen King as the most widely banned author in American public schools, with 206 instances of book bans out of more than 6,800 incidents during the 2024-2025 school year. While book bans are usually initiated because of content related to the LGBTQIA+ community and/or people of color, the treatment of King's work reflects another dimension to these bans. The study notes that, "Thousands of books were taken off shelves in anticipation of community, political or legal pressure rather than in response to a direct threat." Continuing, the study says that by "'obeying in advance,'" school libraries have become a space where their collection development is "rooted in fear or simply a desire to avoid topics that might be deemed controversial.”

Kasey Meehan, the author of the study and director of PEN America's Freedom to Read program, reiterated this to the Associated Press. “[King's] books are often removed from shelves when ‘adult’ titles or books with ‘sex content’ are targeted for removal — these prohibitions overwhelmingly ban LGBTQ+ content and books on race, racism, and people of color — but also affect titles like Stephen King’s books. Some districts — in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment — will sweep so wide they end up removing Stephen King from access, too," said Meehan. 

All around, it's a huge bummer. 

Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

• The hottest upcoming fiction
• Queer romance to add to your reading list
• A genre fiction literary column called If It Bleeds, We Read

...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.