UNITED STATES / RankWire.AI / – During a year marked by unprecedented removals, U.S. school book bans impacted works by Canadian authors Margaret Atwood and Ryan North. PEN America reported a total of 11,982 bans for the 2025-26 school year, the highest annual figure since the organization started tracking in 2021. The data revealed 7,370 distinct titles across 114 school districts. Over 4,000 authors, illustrators, and translators faced restrictions on their works, highlighting the growing scope of school censorship efforts.
Among the most frequently challenged books in the latest report was Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, while North’s Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable Path Adventure made its debut on the index. More than half of the banned titles were young-adult literature, with fiction representing over 80% of the total bans recorded. Additionally, more than 4,500 titles were newly added to the index, expanding the variety of literature that students have been denied access to.
The majority of these bans originated from Republican-led states such as Texas and Florida. Texas alone reported over 8,100 bans, while Florida had more than 3,200. PEN America connected bans in 72% of the districts tracked to legislation enacted at the state level. For instance, Texas Senate Bill 13, which took effect during the 2025-26 school year, increased parental oversight over school library collections. It also mandated statewide standards to limit materials deemed harmful, indecent, profane, or inappropriate for certain age groups. Advocates of these laws characterize them as measures to enhance parental control and protect children.
Conservative political influence drives censorship initiatives
The overall pattern indicates that the censorship movement is primarily rooted in conservative political activism rather than sporadic parental concerns. Organizations such as Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom, and Parents’ Rights in Education have played significant roles in advocating for book removals. PEN America’s previous research described these groups as holding strongly conservative values. The American Library Association found that 92% of the book challenges faced in 2025 originated from pressure groups, government officials, and decision-makers, with less than 3% stemming from individual parents.
This disproportion has fueled criticism that right-wing campaigns are constraining what students are permitted to read in public schools. PEN America emphasizes that bans disproportionately target books covering topics like race, racism, LGBTQ+ issues, sexuality, and sexual violence. Many of these titles had already been selected by educators and librarians for school collections before facing challenges. The organization also detailed how political influence manifests through legislation, official hearings, and removal requests, often transforming ideological disputes over specific books into broad restrictions affecting entire school systems.
Rising book bans raise concerns over free expression
The national scope of these bans now extends well beyond isolated local conflicts. Since 2021, PEN America has documented over 34,000 book bans in schools nationwide. The American Library Association independently tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, alongside 5,668 books removed from libraries and 920 facing restricted access. Although their methodologies differ, both groups highlight a record level of censorship, with coordinated organizations and government actions playing pivotal roles in many removals.
The inclusion of Atwood and North’s works adds a Canadian perspective to the latest data, but the core controversy continues to revolve around U.S. education policies. Laws supported by Republicans and conservative advocacy networks have shifted the decision-making authority from local educators and librarians to state-level institutions. Free-expression advocates argue that these restrictions limit access to literature, particularly titles addressing identity, race, and sexuality. Proponents contend that materials should be screened for age appropriateness. The cumulative totals underscore that political conflicts now influence access to thousands of books across America’s public schools.