PEN America reported that there have been 34,000 instances of book bans across US schools since 2021. The 2025-2026 year involved a record number of unique titles – exceeding 7,000 – involving more than 4,000 authors, illustrators and translators, with 114 school districts imposing bans, the highest number in a single year.
The report attributed much of the increase to new state-level censorship laws, notably Texas's SB13, which bars extensive categories of books in schools. Texas surpassed Florida, which had ranked first in school book bans for the previous three years.
The most frequently banned title was "Sold" by journalist Patricia McCormick, a young adult novel about a Nepalese teen sold into sexual servitude. Stephen King was the most banned author for the second consecutive year.
"Mostly I feel angry on behalf of the women that I interviewed for the story: young women who've been sold into sexual slavery, who told their stories so the world could know what was going on," McCormick said in a statement. "To hear people, or book banners, say that their accounts are pornographic is so disrespectful to them."
Fiction comprised more than 90% of young adult titles subject to bans. Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America's Freedom to Read program, said: "When reading for pleasure is in decline across all ages, bans on popular and engaging titles are exceptionally tragic. Schools should be doing everything possible to connect kids with reading by introducing them to engaging stories and formats."
The report noted that while book bans are increasingly pervasive, parents, students and educators are fighting back, with progressive school board candidates defeating conservative incumbents in some districts.