Book Banning in America - And Its Connection with Indiana

 Here are the Top 13 Most Banned and Challenged Books of 2022  from Book Riot reports:

The American Library Association has released their list of the top 13 most challenged books in 2022. This is usually a top 10 list, but several books tied for their spots this year, so it’s been expanded to the top 13.

According to the ALA, “A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials.” These numbers reflect challenge attempts, even if they did not result in a ban.

The number of challenges between 2021 and 2022 nearly doubled, and 2021 already had a huge increase from the years before: while the yearly total hovered around 300 from 2003 to 2020, there were 2,571 unique books challenged in 2022. Most of the books challenged are about LGBTQIA+ people and/or by authors of color.

From the Muncie Star Press, Indianapolis author John Green's debut novel listed among most banned in 2022: 

An American Library Association news release lists two reasons for challenging the book: claims that it is sexually explicit; and LGBTQIA+ content.

Green disagrees with opponents' thoughts on the sexual experiences depicted in his writing.

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"I wanted to write about sexuality and substance abuse because it felt true to the characters," he wrote. "When you're a teenager, you’re doing all kinds of important things for the first time, and in writing Alaska I wanted to deromanticize some of those firsts."

What to think of the person who sees the effort to deromanticize as pornography? They sound too much like Hamlet's mother - protesting too much indicates their own guilt.

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