Nearly 12,000 expulsions occurred in public schools over the past year, according to a new study from PEN America, the highest total since the free speech organization began tracking expulsions five years ago. For the second year in a row, Stephen King was the author most likely to have his work removed.
Numerous bans occurred in Florida and Texas, where restrictive laws were passed and conservative politicians and activists pushed for removals. PEN also found that school district administrators are increasingly relying on AI to determine which books should be removed.
Themes of race, racism, sexuality, and gender identity remain the most common reasons why books are challenged.
“School libraries make knowledge and ideas accessible, ensure that books remain accessible to all, regardless of personal or political ideologies, and provide readers with gateways to stories that inform, challenge, and reflect the realities of the world,” the PEN report, titled “Banned in the United States,” reads in part. “Book bans hinder the freedom to read, reducing students’ access to a diversity of points of view, voices, perspectives, and literature that they deserve to encounter. »
In total, PEN discovered 11,982 cases of bans, affecting 7,370 individual works. More than 4,500 made the list for the first time, ranging from the 19th century classic “Jane Eyre” to Sui Ishida’s manga series “Tokyo Ghoul.” Monday’s report comes during “Banned Books Week,” during which events at schools, libraries and other places across the country draw attention to censorship efforts.
King’s books have been withdrawn 312 times, including “The Shining” and “The Green Mile.” Meanwhile, the most banned individual title was Patricia McCormick’s novel about a young girl sold into sex slavery in India, “Sold,” for which PEN found 25 deletions. Other commonly targeted books include the dystopian “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood; “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, her award-winning novel about a teenage girl who goes silent after being raped; and Ellen Hopkins’ novel about drug addiction, “Crank.”
Both PEN America and the American Library Association have reported a historic increase in bans since the early 2020s, although their methodologies differ. The PEN considers books that are withdrawn even for a short period of time a ban, while the ALA only includes books that have been permanently withdrawn. According to the library association’s latest report, released in April, there were some 5,600 bans in the previous year.
CORRECTION (October 5, 2026, 3:30 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of the author of the book “Sold.” It’s Patricia McCormick, not Patrick.
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