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On March 2, 2026, Utah banned four more books from all public schools, bringing its complete list of books banned statewide at that time to 27. This came just days after the Maya Angelou estatejoined in a lawsuitfiled against the state of Utah’s book banning law. The suit challenges the legality of Utah’s “sensitive materials” law, which had at that point banned 22 books from every public school in the state. Days later, the state would add a 23rd title to the list,Bag of Bonesby Stephen King, followed by Breathlessby Jennifer Niven,The Carnival at Brayby Jessie Ann Foley,The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novelby Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Renee Nault, andRed Hoodby Elana K. Arnold, who is a party in the lawsuit against the state.
It appears as though the state didn’t update their records accurately, though, as that spate of bans on March 2 wasn’t limited to four titles. A fifth title was banned that day, too, but it wasn’t added to the state’s official documentation until weeks later.
Looking for Alaska by John Green has become the 28th state-sanctioned book ban in the state of Utah. While possible this is a clerical error and Looking for Alaska was banned on the 12th, not the 2nd, this points to the inability of the state to accurately keep records. It’s the second time that a book has slid onto the list quietly.
Nine books have now been banned in Utah since January 1, 2026.
Utah passed one of the strictest bills related to books in public schools in 2024.House Bill 29(HB 29) allows parents to challenge books they deem “sensitive material” and it also outright bans books from all public schools in the state if those books have been deemed “objective sensitive material” or “pornographic” per state code in at least three public school districts or two public school districts and five charter schools statewide. The bill went into effect July 1, 2024, andit started with 13 titles on it.
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The bill is retroactive, meaning that titles which met the state’s guidelines prior to the bill’s start date were included on the list. Per HB 29, any time a public or charter school removes a book deemed “sensitive material,” they must notify the State Board of Education. If that book meets the threshold of removals,allschools will be notified and expected to dispose of it.
There are now 28 books prohibited in any Utah public school. Of them, 21 are written by women. The list is as follows:
Blanketsby Craig Thompson (2003)
A Court of Frost and Starlightby Sarah J. Maas (2018)
A Court of Mist and Furyby Sarah J. Maas (2016)
A Court of Silver Flamesby Sarah J. Maas (2021)
A Court of Thorns and Rosesby Sarah J. Maas (2015)
A Court of Wings and Ruinby Sarah J. Maas (2017)
Empire of Stormsby Sarah J. Maas (2016)
Falloutby Ellen Hopkins (2010)
Foreverby Judy Blume (1975)
Milk and Honeyby Rupi Kaur (2014)
Oryx & Crakeby Margaret Atwood (2003)
Tiltby Ellen Hopkins (2012)
What Girls Are Made Ofby Elana K. Arnold (2017)
Living Dead Girlby Elizabeth Scott (2008)
Damselby Elana K. Arnold (2018)
Like A Love Storyby Abdi Nazemian (2019)
Tricksby Ellen Hopkins (2009)
Water for Elephantsby Sara Gruen (2006)
Thirteen Reasons Whyby Jay Asher (2007)
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the Westby Gregory Maguire (1995)
Nineteen Minutesby Jodi Picoult (2007)
The Perks of Being a Wallflowerby Stephen Chbosky (1999)
Bag of Bonesby Stephen King (1998)
Breathlessby Jennifer Niven (2020)
The Carnival at Brayby Jessie Ann Foley (2014)
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novelby Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Renee Nault (2019)
Red Hoodby Elana K. Arnold (2020)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (2005)
The average publication date of the titles banned by the state of Utah is 2010–that’s 16 years ago. Many of the books removed are titles were likely sitting on shelves when the people who are banning them were themselves students. That they weren’t a problem them only speaks to the manufactured panic around “inappropriate” books.
What is important to understand about the law is that despite claims this is about“local control,”schools in the state are forced to follow the decisions made in other districts. There are 42 public school districts in Utah, butonly nine districts have accounted for the book bans. Among those, Davis has been included in 27 of the bans and Washington, 26. Nebo and Toole have accounted for eight bans, with Alpine and Jordan school districts each account for seven. In other words,twoschool districts in the whole state account for the vast majority of bans.
We’re going to continue to see more books added to this list in Utah as the school year carries on. These are not, of course, the only books being banned in the state where book bans are happening,despite claims by the federal Department of Education. Individual school districts are allowed to ban any books they deem inappropriate–which, of course, helps add more titles to the state list as only three districts need to remove a book before the book must be removed everywhere.
Utah is not the only state with such a book list. South Carolina also retains a sanctioned list of books that must be removed in every public school district. Their list contains 21 titles, making themthe most censorious state when it comes to state-sanctioned book bans. There isa pending lawsuit in that stateas well, brought by the ACLU on behalf of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians and three public school students under the age of 18.
Tennessee has the legal mechanisms for creating statewide school book bans as well, though it has yet to add any titles to a list–in that state,the Secretary of State has instead targeted public libraries. And though there is no law in the state that permits creation of a state-sanctioned banned list, Florida officials have alsodistributed a list of books the state deems inappropriateand necessary to be removed from school libraries anyway.
None of these laws apply to private or homeschool institutions. That’s intentional.
Book bans in Utah are coming in waves, so anticipate more titles to be added to the list in the coming weeks. The state is working its way backwards from the date of the law’s implementation–so chances are as we see more books being banned here, they’ll continue to be older and older titles.
Clearly,the lawsuit filed against HB 29isn’t deterring the most important work in the state education system: removing books that have been on shelves for decades. If anything, it has accelerated the book bans since January this year.
