Marshall University does not ban books! The information is provided to let people know what has been banned/challenged elsewhere.
2023
Banned and challenged for drug use and being sexually explicit.
Both Tricks and Crank were removed from libraries in the Rockwall Independent School District (TX) along with 19 other titles. No formal request for reconsideration was submitted for any of the books and no review process was followed. Prior to their removal, Hopkins’ books were included on a list of titles state senator Bob Hall characterized as “obscene,” which was shared with district administrators by a local parents group.
Crank and Tricks were among seven titles removed from a High School Library in Michigan after a parent supported claims the books included “pornographic content” with arguments from booklooks.org. Following the removal of the initial seven, she submitted a list of 55 additional titles.
2022
A group of parents distributed flyers containing excerpts and illustrations from this and other books at a meeting of the Rockwood (MO) School District Board. After the meeting, they submitted requests for reconsideration of This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, The Haters by Jesse Andrews, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Where I End and You Begin by Preston Norton, Heroine by Mindy McGinnis, and The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson, claiming the books were pornographic. A review committee of two teachers, two librarians, a curriculum coordinator, a school board member, four parents, and two high school students voted to retain all challenged titles. However, The Breakaways was restricted to students in fourth grade and up.
2011
Challenged for drugs, offensive language and being sexually explicit.
On These Pages
A Banned book has been removed from a library, classroom, etc.
A Challenged book has been requested to be removed from a library, classroom, etc.
For additional information contact
Ron Titus, titus@marshall.edu
304-696-6575
Last updated
August 22, 2023