Banned books recommended for National Day of Action

Here is a list of books banned in Florida schools that the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice program recommends for reading. The release of the list is part of the National Day of Action: Freedom to Learn event on May 3, 2023.

Picture Books:

• The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones
• Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard
• Pink Is for Boys by Robb Pearlman
• And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
• I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings
• Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Caro le Boston Weatherford 

Middle and Upper Grades:

• The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson
• Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by Sonja Cherry-Paul (Adapter), Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
• Flamer by Mike Curato
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely 
• All Boys Aren’t Blue  by George M. Johnson
• This Book Is Gay  by Juno Dawson
• Gender Queer: A Memoir  by Maia Kobabe
• The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
• Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman 
• The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renée Nault
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Illustration at top: These are among the 20 banned books that comprise Learning for Justice’s recommended reading for National Day of Action: Freedom to Learn.