This past semester, Frisco Independent School District discussed which books should be banned or reviewed.
Neil Gaiman, the author of books such as The Sandman, and recently banned American Gods, took to Twitter to express his outrage over his books being labeled as “obscene.”
The tweet read, “American Gods, Anansi Boys and The Ocean at the End of the Lane have all been banned and removed from the Frisco District. Astonishing…”
Gaiman’s books are featured under genres such as short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels and nonfiction.
On May 19, 2022, Frisco Superintendent Mike Waldrip released a message to parents and staff expressing his concerns about some books in question and explained that Frisco ISD is diligently working to remove any books that are considered obscene. “Over the course of this school year, our librarians and central office library staff have been engaged in a comprehensive review of library collection development guidelines and policies,” Dr. Waldrip wrote.
A full list of banned books has been published on Frisco ISD’s website. Currently, 286 books have been completely banned from school libraries or restricted to specific grades. Titles such as A Game of Thrones and The Handmaid's Tale are banned. But one author has spoken out on Twitter addressing the recent bans.
But not only are been fictional books being pulled off the shelves. Brown v Board of Education: A Fight for Simple Justice and D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History was removed from elementary schools and are being reviewed for middle and high school.
The district also removed LGBTQ+ literature. Local Profile previously reported that during a board meeting on June 13, several parents further expressed their concerns about what books their children are reading and called for a “status check on FISD response to the gay, trans and heterosexual pornographic books crisis.” At the most recent board meeting, one parent called for the removal of all books containing LGBTQ+ characters and any mention of gender identity. But one student spoke to the board and expressed her own concern about LGBTQ+ books being removed.
“As a queer woman of color, I have had my voice suppressed in the school curriculum leading to further prejudice between the walls of the classroom,” the speaker told the board.
The conversations in regard to books will most likely continue, but will also bring more controversy with it. To view the full list of banned books visit friscoisd.org.