Books

Learn more about assigned books students read for school and how teachers use books in their curriculum
Manipulated image of old hardcover books flying on white background
Liudmila Chernetska/iStock + Education Week
Reading & Literacy Opinion What Should We Really Make of Book Bans?
Opinions are divided on the significance of recent (and not-so-recent) efforts to remove certain books from schools.
Mary Hendrie, September 20, 2023
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5 min read
Tidy vector hand drawn background with Books, Vintage cozy elements, printed publications, volumes of literature, retro library flying objects, decor textile, wrapping paper, wallpaper, textured pattern
Olga Kurbatova/iStock
Reading & Literacy Opinion Don’t Worry About 'Book Bans'
So-called “book bans” are a lot rarer—and more reasonable—than you might think, argue Max Eden and Jay P. Greene.
Max Eden & Jay P. Greene, September 15, 2023
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5 min read
Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois secretary of state, talks with Chairman Richard Durbin, D-Ill., right, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature," in Hart Building on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois secretary of state, talks with Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., right, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature," on Sept. 12, 2023.
Tom Williams/AP
Federal A Senate Committee Takes Up School Book Wars, Complete With Sharp Partisan Divisions
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "book bans" included one Republican senator reading sexually explicit passages.
Mark Walsh, September 12, 2023
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4 min read
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A wall of 19 banned books with a bright blue AI button illuminating over top.
Visualization by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Getty
Reading & Literacy An Iowa District Used AI to Figure Out Which Books to Ban
An Iowa school district used AI to decide which books to ban to comply with a state law that bans materials with depictions of sex.
Eesha Pendharkar, August 21, 2023
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7 min read
Four of the 30 copies of the six Harry Potter books remain on a shelf at the Crawfordsville District Public Library in Crawfordsville, Ind., on July 18, 2007. The newest release, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will not even make it to the shelf when it is released on Saturday because of a waiting list to check out the book, according to a library spokesman in Crawfordsville.
Harry Potter books sit on a shelf at the Crawfordsville District Public Library in Crawfordsville, Ind., on July 18, 2007. Some educators are rethinking their inclusion of the popular book series in their classrooms because of the author's comments about transgender people.
Michael Conroy/AP
Reading & Literacy Is It Time to Retire 'Harry Potter'-Themed Classrooms and Libraries?
Author J.K. Rowling's comments on transgender people have left some educators uneasy about promoting the series.
Madeline Will, August 21, 2023
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6 min read
The shadow of the hand of a Sotheby's employee is cast over a 17th-century calf bound 1623 copy of the First Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays at the auction house's offices in central London, on March 30, 2006.
The shadow of the hand of a Sotheby's employee is cast over a 17th-century calf bound 1623 copy of the First Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays at the auction house's offices in central London, on March 30, 2006.
Matt Dunham/AP
Curriculum Shakespeare Works Should Not Be Removed From Classrooms, Florida Education Department Says
Plans in a Florida district to reduce the works of Shakespeare to excerpts were met with derision by state education officials.
Jeffrey S. Solochek, Tampa Bay Times, August 9, 2023
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3 min read
The shadow of the hand of a Sotheby's employee is cast over a 17th-century calf bound 1623 copy of the First Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays at the auction house's offices in central London, on March 30, 2006.
The shadow of the hand of a Sotheby's employee is cast over a 17th-century calf bound 1623 copy of the First Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays at the auction house's offices in central London, on March 30, 2006.
Matt Dunham/AP
Curriculum Schools in Florida Cut Back on Shakespeare, Citing New State Rules
English teachers in Hillsborough County are preparing lessons with only excerpts from Shakespeare’s works to avoid anything racy or sexual.
Marlene Sokol, Tampa Bay Times, August 8, 2023
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3 min read
3D illustration of a crumpled paper person's speech bubble being burned by a match in front of a multi-colored collaged printed background. Silencing opinion.
DigitalVision Vectors + iStock/Getty + Vanessa Solis/Education Week
Teaching Opinion I Put an LGBTQ+ Book on My Classroom Reading List. Then Someone Filed a Police Report
A teacher shares three important lessons from the backlash that drove her out of her classroom.
Sarah Bonner, July 31, 2023
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5 min read
Illustration of student reading being erased.
F. Sheehan for EdWeek / Getty
Reading & Literacy Opinion Whose Life Experiences Are Being Disappeared by Book Banning?
For schools to prepare students for our pluralistic democracy, we need inclusive books, writes AERA president Tyrone Howard.
Tyrone C. Howard, July 24, 2023
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4 min read
Photo of a caucasian, elementary or middle school aged boy browsing and reading a book in the library.
iStock/Getty
Reading & Literacy Want Kids to Read in the Summer? School Librarians Can Help
A literacy expert breaks down factors that impact students' summer reading—-and they all involve school librarians.
Elizabeth Heubeck, July 21, 2023
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5 min read
Edha Gupta at a protest at Central York School District, where students, teachers and community members gathered to fight against a ban on 300 books and educational resources.
Edha Gupta at a protest at Central York School District, where students, teachers and community members gathered to fight against a ban on 300 books and educational resources.
Courtesy of Ben Hodge
Reading & Literacy What Happened When Students Led Fights to Reverse Book Bans
The stories of two student groups that found success in organizing to fight district book bans.
Eesha Pendharkar, July 18, 2023
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7 min read
Blue comic book strip with the word WOW! in red in the center.
iStock/Getty
Teaching 4 Ways to Use Comics and Graphic Novels to Engage Students
A social studies teacher uses comics to make history feel relevant to his high school students.
Alyson Klein, July 5, 2023
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4 min read
Eliza Walton of Boise and Josie Backus of Nampa participate in a demonstration to read book titles that the Nampa School District is working to remove as dozens of people read those books sitting in the lawn in front of the school administration office during a school board meeting on June 16, 2022, in Nampa, Idaho.
Eliza Walton of Boise, Idaho, and Josie Backus of Nampa, Idaho, participate in a demonstration to read book titles that the Nampa school district is working to remove. The demonstration took place during a school board meeting on June 16, 2022, in Nampa, Idaho.
Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman via AP
Reading & Literacy From Our Research Center How Students Are Reacting to Book Bans in Their Schools
When students know about bans, their interest in the titles increases, one-third of library staff said in a survey.
Eesha Pendharkar, June 28, 2023
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4 min read
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