INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Banning a book that tells the tale of a student challenging her school banning books? That's just what one Florida school board did, even after an advising committee recommended to keep it in libraries.
"Ban This Book" was removed from Indian River County schools in May after a majority of the district's school board voted last month to take it out of circulation. The book was first approved by the school board in 2022 and was kept on shelves despite a challenge in 2023.
Copies of the book were at two elementary schools and one middle school, the complaint said.
The book, written by Alan Gatz and released in 2017, follows 4th-grader Amy Anne on her journey after her favorite book was banned from her school's library, the author's website says.
To fight back against the book banners, she starts a secret banned book library out of her locker, but things soon get out of hand and she "finds herself on the front line of an unexpected battle over book banning, censorship, and who has the right to decide what she and her fellow students can read."
The complaint to remove "Ban This Book" came from Jennifer Pippin, who runs the Indian River County chapter of Moms for Liberty. The organization was co-founded in 2021 by Sarasota County School Board Member Bridget Ziegler and has been one of the driving forces behind book ban pushes in Florida and across the country.
Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center named Moms for Liberty an "extremist" group, saying the Florida-based organization targets teachers, advocates abolishing the Department of Education, advances “conspiracy propaganda,” and spreads “hateful" LGBTQ rhetoric.
Pippin's complaint says "Ban This Book" contains subject material that violates Florida Statute regarding "obscene" material that is "harmful to minors," linking to a book summary website that reportedly has ties to Moms for Liberty.
Florida statute says the following: "Harmful to minors” means any reproduction, imitation, characterization, description, exhibition, presentation, or representation, of whatever kind or form, depicting nudity, sexual conduct, or sexual excitement when it:
- Predominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest;
- Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material or conduct for minors; and
- Taken as a whole, is without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
"Parents have the right to manage their child's level of access in the school library media center," one person in favor of keeping the book district schools said at the meeting. "Parents should not have the right to deny access for all children."
One person in favor of removing "Ban This Book" from schools said that while the book itself isn't particularly graphic or inflammatory, it "directs" kids to other materials that are "full of pornography" by mentioning other banned books and linking to resources.
The man's shared sentiment mirrored Pippin's complaint.
However, the majority of the school district's "objection committee" recommended to keep the book, with all but one member agreeing the above Florida statute was not violated.
Still, three of five school board members voted to take the book off school library shelves. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, two of the board members who voted to ban "Ban This Book" were "backed" by Moms for Liberty during their campaigns. The third member who voted yes was recently appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the news outlet reported.
One school board member even called into question the advisory committee's discernment of books, claiming its members previously recommended against pocket editions of the U.S. Constitution from being in school libraries or classrooms.
Gatz reportedly told USA Today the ban was "ironic."
"They banned the book because it talks about the books that they have banned and because it talks about book banning," he said in an interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida. "It feels like they know exactly what they're doing and they're somewhat ashamed of what they're doing and they don't want a book on the shelves that calls them out."
