Asian authors face growing censorship as book bans surge in US schools

More than 6,800 books were banned from American public schools during the 2024-25 school year, including numerous works by Asian authors in what free speech advocates call an organized campaign to limit access to diverse voices.

Scope of bans: PEN America’s “Banned in the USA” report, released Wednesday, documents 6,870 book bans across 23 states and 87 public school districts. While down from the record-breaking 10,046 bans in 2023-24, current figures remain more than double the annual average of the early 2020s. Florida, Texas and Tennessee accounted for 80% of all removals, with these three states having enacted or attempted laws calling for removal of books deemed objectionable. Florida alone banned or restricted 2,304.

Beyond these raw numbers, PEN America describes a “disturbing normalization of censorship,” with schools increasingly pulling thousands of titles before any complaints materialize — behavior the report characterizes as “obeying in advance,” driven by fear of potential backlash.

Censored titles: Among the targeted works, Malinda Lo’s “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” a queer coming-of-age novel set in 1950s San Francisco Chinatown, faced 19 bans, with critics targeting its portrayal of both race and LGBTQ identity. Mariko Tamaki’s graphic novel “This One Summer,” another coming-of-age story that involves dark and mature themes, also fell under censorship. Kelly Yang’s “Parachutes,” a modern immigrant story centered on two girls, was likewise banned. Another title censored was Samira Ahmed’s “Love, Hate and Other Filters,” which tackles Islamophobia and cultural divides.

Books are often removed for LGBTQ+ themes, depictions of race and passages with violence and sexual violence. Taken together, PEN America says the bans represent organized efforts to block student access to multicultural stories, threatening First Amendment protections and limiting schools’ ability to present diverse viewpoints to students. The organization is actively litigating cases, including a federal lawsuit in Tennessee, to challenge the censorship.