Reading is an important part of my life and has shaped me into who I am today. In high school, I read books that are on the book ban list. Now, when I see the banned book list, I seek them out to read. Some of the books I have read on the list are “The Kite Runner,” “Milk and Honey,” “Girl in Pieces,” and “Where the Crawdads Sing.”
In Iowa, almost 3,400 books and two DVDs have been removed from K-12 schools, according to The Des Moines Register. The law, signed in 2023 by Gov. Reynolds, also includes a section that prohibits “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion or instruction relating to gender.”
This book ban stops school and public libraries from providing books with what some see as inappropriate messages. They don’t allow schools to talk or have any assignments regarding gender or sexual orientation.
PEN America aims to protect literature and freedom of expression. In their 2025 report, they found that, “Thirty-six percent of books banned in the 2023-2024 school year featured characters or people of color, 25% LGBTQ+ characters, and 10% neurodivergent or disabled characters.”
Iowa’s banned book law only affects K-12 schools; it does not affect DMACC or any colleges.
HB 521, introduced last year in Iowa, would remove obscenity protections at educational institutions and public libraries.
This bill would get rid of the protections allowing school libraries to keep books considered to have obscene material for educational purposes.
The Iowa Library Association does not want this bill passed and said it “will create a chilling effect that leads to over-restriction of legal content, and censorship.” However, there has been no progress on this bill since it was introduced a year ago.
I will continue to read books on the book ban list because I believe books should not be censored. Books like “Girl in Pieces” and “Milk and Honey” have strong themes that are deep and personal. I love the book “Milk and Honey” because it makes me feel like I’m not alone and that there are other people who feel the same.
I believe the government should not have a say in what teenagers read. The parents should be controlling what they want or don’t want their children to read. If a child is dealing with the same problems in the book, then they deserve to read about other kids dealing with the same thing.
Another issue that is worse for kids than these books is the social media to which they are accustomed. There are some children on social media who are watching things much worse than what is in these books.
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