There are wars everywhere. There is a war between Russia and the Ukraine that has raged on for more than a year. In Ukraine’s mind, they are fighting for their well-deserved independence. They have been living under “faux independence” since the old Soviet Union broke up under Gorbachev. In Russia’s mind they are taking back their old territory, and reinforcing their sphere of influence. The battle between Hamas and Israel has captured the world’s attention, and could become an election issue next year. The battle for the hearts and minds of our kids could be one of the most-contentious.
Major publishing houses have bombarded the public schools with controversial books that cover wide-ranging subjects such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender. The parents, students, teachers and school administrators are pushing back. Critics have questioned the “age-appropriateness” of certain books and subjects. Students have questioned whether certain books are too slanted and distorted to be considered a seriously reflection of their lived experience and politicians like former President Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis have questioned the educational value of certain books.
Never fear, PEN America is here. PEN America has couched such criticisms as “book banning” and has stood up against such bans, and against administrators desire to remove certain books from their school curriculums. Recently, PEN America listed the most banned books in the country. The list included Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, amongst others.
PEN America counted school book bans in the 2022-2023 school year, and found 3,362 book bans affecting 1,557 unique titles, with more than 40% of the bans occurring in Florida.
This is the list of the most banned books in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the PEN America Index of School Book Bans. Bestselling novelist Ellen Hopkins wrote three of the most frequently banned books, including the most banned book, Tricks. Sarah J. Maas wrote two of the most frequently banned.
The 2022-23 banned book list also includes The Bluest Eye, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and several popular young adult novels that have been made into movies or television series. Gender Queer: A Memoir, the most banned book in the 2021-2022 school year, was fifth on the list for 2022-23, but has the most bans in total across both school years, with 67.
PEN America could not be more wrong. The most-banned book in the country is Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids From Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead by Ralph W. Baker, Jr. Shock Exchange is the greatest book ever written, which also makes it the most-dangerous book ever written. Everybody covets it – authors, major publishing houses, politicians, economists, media outlets, et al. They are also determined to mine the book’s contents and ensure Baker does not take credit for it or profit from it.
Shock Exchange has been banned from schools, libraries and from any public discourse. However, authors, politicians, magazines and newspapers continue to copy it and quote from it, attempting to convince the public they are unaware of Shock Exchange or Mr. Baker. PEN America fancies itself as an organization that defends “writers, artists, and journalists” and protects free expression. However, the organization has never stood up for Shock Exchange, made the public aware of Shock Exchange and castigated those who have banned the book or appropriated it. Shock Exchange is the world’s most-banned book, and soon the public will become aware of it.
