We’re fresh on the heels of Banned Books Week. This annual week-long campaign celebrates the freedom to read and raises awareness about book bans. In light of the explosive rise in book banning these last few years, this work is more vital than ever.
As a member of the leadership team of the Texas chapter of Authors Against Book Bans (AABB), I was proud to speak up locally about the awesome work AABB is doing to support targeted authors and stories, as well as the educators and librarians on the front lines of a lot of these battles.
I kicked off the week by joining a panel discussion organized by the hosts of The Beautiful and Banned Podcast + ATX indie BookPeople. The panel, held at Austin’s Central Library, also included Cheryl Davis of the Authors Guild, who spoke about the excellent work the Guild is doing to combat censorship.
After the panel, I joined fellow authors Aaron Aceves and Dalia Azim for a round of banned books trivia. I’m sorry to say I lost… But only by a point! (Also: Have you been to Austin’s Central Library? Because it’s one of the most beautiful libraries I’ve ever seen. Such a local treasure.)
Later in the week, I made my TV local news debut alongside Liz Garton Scanlon in a KVUE feature on Banned Book Week programming around Austin. A little nerve-wracking, but mostly fun!
Finally, my gratitude to the team over at Cynsations for interviewing the leadership of AABB Texas: Texas Authors Against Book Bans Champions Freedom to Read
Banned Books Week might be over but hey, any week is a good week to read + uplift banned books. In that spirit, here are a few of my favorite books that have been unfairly targeted in recent years: