America’s Book Ban Obsession Keeps Growing in 2025
Book banning used to be the punchline of a bad joke about censorship — now it’s practically school policy. A new report from PEN America says that silencing stories in U.S. classrooms has gone from occasional outrage to everyday routine, with nearly 6,900 books pulled from schools in just the past year.
Sure, that number is technically down from last year’s dizzying 10,000 bans. But that’s like bragging your house is less on fire this time. Since 2021, PEN America has counted more than 22,800 bans across 45 states — a censorship wave so large it’s basically got its own ZIP code.
Normalization of Censorship
The advocacy group’s annual Banned in the USA report paints a picture of what it calls the “normalization and routinization of censorship.” Translation: pulling books has become standard operating procedure in public education. The group blames everything from new state laws and “explicit materials” lists to political pressure campaigns and fear-mongering about “age-appropriate” content.
Even the federal government’s gotten in on the act. Shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office in January, the Department of Education dismissed book bans as a “hoax” — while simultaneously rescinding civil rights guidance that discouraged them. Irony is officially dead.
“Censorship pressures have expanded and escalated,” said Kasey Meehan, PEN America’s Freedom to Read director. “We’re seeing an everyday banning — the normalization of censorship — that’s unprecedented.”
Florida: The Book-Ban Blueprint
Florida tops the charts. For the third straight year, the Sunshine State led the nation with 2,300 banned titles — followed by Texas with 1,780 and Tennessee with 1,600. According to PEN America, Florida has become “the blueprint” for how censorship spreads. What starts there tends to ripple out, fast.
The report says many of these bans come not from concerned parents but from local politicians and pressure groups pushing vague “anti-obscenity” laws that threaten educators’ jobs and licenses. The message is clear: pull the books or risk your career.
Sabrina Baêta of PEN America didn’t hold back. “No bookshelf will be left untouched if local and state book bans keep wreaking havoc on the freedom to read,” she said. “Book bans stand in the way of a more just, informed, and equitable world.”
What’s Getting the Ax
If you think the banned titles are limited to graphic erotica or violent thrillers, think again. The books most often targeted are those that dare to mention — brace yourself — race, gender, or sexuality.
The top banned books of the year read like a syllabus for empathy:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (23 bans)
Sold by Patricia McCormick (20)
Breathless by Jennifer Niven (20)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (19)
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (18)
Authors writing about marginalized identities are hit hardest. PEN America found that most banned books feature LGBTQ+ characters, people of color, or women. Apparently, the fastest way to get banned in 2025 is to write about being human.
The Authors in the Crosshairs
Even literary heavyweights aren’t immune. Stephen King — yes, that Stephen King — had 87 titles banned 206 times. YA author Ellen Hopkins clocked 167 bans. Fantasy powerhouse Sarah J. Maas racked up 162.
All told, nearly 2,600 writers, illustrators, and translators saw their work pulled from shelves last year.
So, yes — the numbers may have dipped but make no mistake: America’s war on books is still in full swing. The difference now is that censorship isn’t shocking anymore — it’s expected. And that’s the real danger.
Because once pulling a book becomes routine, the question stops being “What can we read?” and becomes “Who gets to decide?”
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