Not a wall—but a trellis. Something living. Something trained.
In Brooklyn, the public library reported issuing nearly ten thousand Books Unbanned e-cards to teens in states with bans. One trans student used a friend’s email, afraid to use her own. A foster kid wrote, “I can’t get into libraries. Can you link this email to my card?” The staff said yes.
By spring, Monica had started keeping her own drawer of contraband—copies of The Bluest Eye, Melissa, and Maus—passed hand-to-hand to students she trusted. The hum was still there, but now it seemed to hang lower, like a ceiling pressing down, swallowing the quiet between words. The light above had dulled, losing its edge, leaving a kind of gray that made it easier to miss what wasn’t there. She kept the post-it from page 84, too.
The shelves were still bare the day her quietest student returned, pausing at the gap where The Bluest Eye used to be. She didn’t speak, just looked at Monica, then at the empty space.
Monica reached into the drawer. The hum held steady, wrapping around them both. The overhead light flickered once, catching on the folded post-it where Pecola’s name appeared, waiting for someone to ask if she was bad, or just sad—the kind of answer that never comes after the question is erased.
Bibliography
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2. PEN America. “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools.” PEN America, 2025. https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools. Provides data on over 10,000 book bans across U.S. schools, analyzing laws, trends, and political motivations behind them.
3. Salins, Rachel. Executive Order 14149 and the Language of “Free Speech.” Freedom Forum Institute, January 2025. Documents and critiques the language and impact of Trump’s 2025 executive order on federal media policy and censorship.
4. American Library Association. Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists. ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, 2023–2025. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10. Provides annual rankings and reasons for the most challenged books in schools and libraries.
5. Iowa Legislature. Senate File 496, An Act Relating to School Curriculum and Instructional Materials. 2023. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&ba=SF496. Full text and legislative history of the Iowa law banning books with sexual content in schools.
6. Barnes, Robert. Federal Judge Blocks Iowa School Book Ban Temporarily. NPR, August 2024. Reports on litigation halting enforcement of Iowa’s Senate File 496, exploring legal arguments over First Amendment rights.
7. Delgado, Jennifer. Media Bias Investigations Under Executive Order 14149. Columbia Journalism Review, February 2025. Analyzes FCC investigations of media organizations post-EO 14149 and concerns over editorial independence.
8. Teachers Defending Democracy. “Educational Gag Orders by State: 2023–2025.” TDD Reports, 2025. Maps and analyzes laws restricting classroom discussions on race, gender, and American history across 23 states.
9. LoMonte, Frank. “The Chilling Effect: School Censorship in the Age of Complaint Portals.” Journal of Law and Education 52, no.1 (2025): 18–33. Legal analysis of how anonymous complaint portals allow parents to trigger book removals with minimal scrutiny.
10. Voice of America Staff. Internal Memo on Editorial Revisions and Leadership Changes. Confidential internal VOA document, January 2025. Describes structural editorial shifts inside VOA in the wake of EO 14149, contributing to self-censorship.
11. Johnson, Terri. A History of Censorship in American Education. Beacon Press, 2022. Provides historical context, tracing censorship from Comstock laws through the Reagan era to present legal frameworks.
12. PBS NewsHour. “Banned Book Club: Texas Students Fight Back.” PBS, April 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/banned-book-club-texas-students-fight-back. Features interviews with students forming underground book clubs in response to bans.