But books, including one of her recent favorites, have been vanishing from the shelves of Katy Independent School District libraries the past few months. Some titles were removed after parents formally complained, but others were quietly banned by the district without official reviews.
You should be able to see yourself reflected on the page. Her safe haven is now a battleground in an unprecedented effort by parents and conservative politicians in Texas to ban books dealing with race, sexuality and gender from schools, an NBC News investigation has found. Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.
In comparison, only one library book challenge was filed at those districts during the same time period a year earlier, records show.
A handful of the districts reported more challenges this year than in the past two decades combined. All but a few of the challenges this school year targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex. Many of the books under fire are newer titles, purchased by school librarians in recent years as part of a nationwide movement to diversify the content available to public school children.
Kendi, with copies of the Bible. Read more: Here are 50 books Texas parents want banned from school libraries.
