Utah has added seven new books to its list of titles that must be removed from public schools statewide on Monday, according to a September 28 report. This expansion brings the total number of banned books in the state to 44.
The seven new titles being added to the prohibited list include House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas, Identical by Ellen Hopkins, Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Of the 44 books currently prohibited in Utah public schools, 33 were written by women.
The increase follows the passage of House Bill 29 (HB 29) in 2024, which allows parents to challenge books they deem sensitive material. Under the law, which took effect July 1, 2024, books are banned statewide if they are deemed objective sensitive material or pornographic by at least three public school districts, or by two districts and five charter schools. The legislation is retroactive, applying to titles that met these guidelines before the bill's start date.
The state has added 25 new titles to the list since January, accounting for more than half of the total prohibited books. While Utah has 42 public school districts, nine have accounted for the bans. Davis School District has been included in 43 bans, Washington in 31, Jordan School District in 22, and Tooele in 17. The seven newest banned titles primarily originated from the Davis, Jordan, and Tooele districts.
The current list of banned books includes several older titles, with the average publication date of the prohibited books being 2009. The law does not apply to private or homeschool institutions.
