In one Florida school district, libraries have removed books for sexual and racial content — some written by very familiar names.
Author Jspanmes Pspantterson, Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison and best-selling young-adult novelist Jodi Picoult are some of the writers whose works were among more than 80 book titles removed from the Martin County School District’s middle and high schools last month.
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‘Maximum Ride’ author James Pattersontweets: Write to DeSspanntis spanfter ‘spanbsurd’ removspanl of his YA book series
Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved” had been on high school shelves. But no more. Books written by Picoult — including “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Lone Wolf,” “House Rules” and “Keeping Faith” — also were removed from high schools after objections that they were romance novels for adults, not children, according to district records.
Patterson — who had bestsellers eventually made into blockbuster movies such as “Along Came a Spider” and is known for the Alex Cross and Women’s Murder Club series — took to Twitter on Monday after learning his “Maximum Ride” young-adult book series was removed from Martin County school library shelves.
Patterson, who lives in Palm Beach County and owns a home in Martin County — asked his followers to “send a polite note” to Gov. Ron DeSantis: “The Maximum Ride series was recently banned by the Martin County Florida School District. Honestly, who would want Maximum Ride banned from schools? On what possible grounds? What do the majority of parents in Martin County think of this arbitrary and borderline absurd decision?”
Jennifer DeShazo, public information director for the Martin County School District, said Wednesday that Patterson’s “Maximum Ride” series was removed from the district’s elementary school libraries after a Feb. 1 reconsideration request.
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That request, submitted by Stuart resident Julie Marshall, asked that all nine books in the series be removed because she considered them a young-adult series that “does not belong in elementary school libraries,” she wrote in her objection form to the school district. She asked for the books to be placed in “upper-level” school libraries.
Marshall, who filed most of the challenges to the Martin County School District’s book titles, indicated on her form that she has not “read or viewed” the “Maximum Ride” series.
She also indicated that the book series has no “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for students.”
The books were removed from two elementary schools in Martin County around Feb. 20 and placed in the district’s middle schools, DeShazo said.
“The titles were reconsidered following Florida’s statutorily-prescribed process and moved from elementary libraries to middle school, which is aligned with the recommended reading age of 12+ for the series,” DeShazo said. “(Patterson’s) titles are available to students at the middle school level.”
Patterson has written more than 200 novels since 1976, including the nine-book “Maximum Ride” series for young adults. The science fantasy series, published between 2005 and 2012, centers on the adventures of Maximum “Max” Ride and her family, called the Flock, who are winged human-avian hybrids created at a lab called The School.
What other books were recently removed from Martin County school libraries? Here’s a list.
“Mighty Jack and the Goblin King” by Ben Hatke
“A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas
“A Court of Thorns and Roses” Sarah J. Maas
“A Court of Wings and Ruin” Sarah J Maas
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Safran Foer
“Forever” by Judy Blume
“Hopeless” by Colleen Hoover
“Losing Hope” by Colleen Hoover
“The Carnival at the Bray” by Jessie Ann Foley
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Attwood
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
“Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher
“Wicked: Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maquire
“Almost Perfect” by Brian Katcher
“Damsel” by Elana K. Arnold
“Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas
“Living Dead Girl” by Elizabeth Scott
“Kingdom of Ash” by Sarah J. Maas
“Looking for Alaska” by John Green
“More Happy Than Not” by Adam Silvera
“Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Piccoult
Nineteen Minutes Jodi Piccoult
Shine Lauren Myracle
“Shine” by Lauren Myracle
“Sold” by Patricia McCormick
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
“The Freedom Writer’s Diary” by Erin Gruwell
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
“Change of Heart” by Jodi Picoult
“Drama” by Raina Telgemeier
“Handle with Care” by Jodi Picoult
“House Rules” by Jodi Picoult
“Keeping Faith” by Jodi Picoult
“Leaving Time” by Jodi Picoult
“Lone Wolf” by Jodi Picoult
“Looking for Alaska” by John Green
“Maximum Ride: Angel” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: Fang” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: Max” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: Maximum Ride Forever” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: Nevermore” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: Saving the World & Other Extreme Sports” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment” by James Patterson
“Maximum Ride: The Final Warning” by James Patterson
“Mercy” by Jodi Picoult
“My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult
“Perfect Match” by Jodi Picoult
“Picture Perfect” by Jodi Picoult
“Plain Truth” by Jodi Picoult
“Salem Falls” by Jodi Picoult
“Second Glance” by Jodi Picoult
“Sing You Home” by Jodi Picoult
“Songs of a Humpback Whale” by Jodi Picoult
“The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
“The Pact” by Jodi Picoult
“The Storyteller” by Jodi Picoult
“The Tenth Circle” by Jodi Picoult
“Vanishing Acts” by Jodi Picoult
“All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
“Fade,” Book 2 in the “Wake Trilogy” series, by Lisa McMann
“Ghost Boys” by Jewell Parker Rhodes
“Heroine” by Mindy McGinnis
“Juliet Takes A Breath” by Gabby Rivera
“Life is Funny” by E.R. Frank
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
“Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You” by Jason Reynolds
“The Breakaways” by Cathy G. Johnson
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold
“The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed
“Tower of Dawn,” Book 6 in the “Throne of Glass” series, by Sarah J. Maas
“Unravel Me” by Tahereh Mafi
“I am not your Mexican Daughter” by Erika Sanchez
“L8rG8r” by Lauren Myracle
“America” by E.R. Frank
“Ask the Passengers” by A.S. King
“Gabi, a Girl in Pieces” by Isabel Quintero
“Go Ask Alice” Anonymous
“Ramona Blue” by Julie Murphy
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein
“The Female of the Species” by Mindy McGinnis
“The Truth About Alice” by Jennifer Mathieu
“Where I End and You Begin” by Preston Norton