Stephen King, Jodi Picoult among most-banned authors in schools

For the period between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, the organization documented 6,870 instances of book bans, which it defines as any content-based action against a book that leads to student access being even temporarily curtailed. This total also includes books undergoing review to determine what restrictions to implement and books that are “banned by restriction,” allowing access only with parental permission, or only to certain grade levels or school levels. The previous year’s report documented just over 10,000 such bans.

The report also notes the emergence of statewide “no read” lists. In South Carolina, the State Board of Education can either decide to review a title on its own initiative or approve an individual’s appeal after a district decides to retain a challenged title, and thus prohibit it in public schools statewide. In Utah, if a certain number of districts or charter schools decide to restrict a book, it triggers a statewide ban. “Tennessee is the third state that enacted such a mechanism in 2024; however, it has not yet been reported as used,” the report states.

Manga creators, including Yusei Matsui, author of “Assassination Classroom,” and Atsushi Ohkubo, author of the Soul Eater and Fire Force series, ranked among the most-frequently restricted authors for the first time in the report’s history. Many of these titles became subject to scrutiny following the passage, in 2024, of a measure in Tennessee that prohibited school libraries from carrying materials with “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse.”

“It’s a very specific content area that was swept up under these larger reviews,” Meehan said, noting that the organization may have undercounted bans, since districts often did not list manga titles correctly, or restricted entire series, which are often composed of dozens of titles.

The books that were restricted in the most districts, according to PEN America, were “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess (in 23 districts), “Breathless” by Jennifer Niven (20 districts), “Sold” by Patricia McCormick (20 districts) and “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo (19 districts).