These 43 books have been banned from school libraries in Wisconsin in 2023
Below are Wisconsin school districts that have removed and limited access to books, as reported by media and district records.
PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for freedom of expression, counted 3,362 instances of book titles being banned in schools in the 2022-23 school year, including 43 in Wisconsin, amid a major political push to remove certain books across the country.
The organization counts a book ban whenever an objection to the content of a book results in removal or restricted access, overriding initial decisions by librarians or educators who had selected the materials.
If you know about a book ban in Wisconsin not mentioned in this story, contact Journal Sentinel reporter Rory Linnane at [email protected].
More: Are Wisconsin schools banning books? Here's what we know.
Menomonee Falls School District
In October, Menomonee Falls School District administrators ordered the removal of 33 books from the high school. Parents, students and community members packed the next school board meeting, with many demanding answers.
Superintendent David Mu?oz said the books came from a list compiled over the course of two years by Nina Christensen, president of the school board, and other unnamed board members. Mu?oz said he met with two "trusted administration leaders" and decided that the 33 books violated district policy on sexually explicit content and profanity.
The books were:
"A Court of Frost and Starlight" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Wings and Ruin" by Sarah J. Maas
"Boy Toy" by Barry Lyga
"Breathless" by Jennifer Niven
"Damsel" by Elana Arnold
"Empire of Storms" by Sarah J. Maas
"Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi
"Identical" by Ellen Hopkins
"Jesus Land: A Memoir" by Julia Scheeres
"Kingdom of Ash" by Sarah J. Maas
"Last Night at the Telegraph Club" by Malinda Lo
"Living Dead Girl" by Elizabeth Scott
"Lucky" by Alice Sebold
"Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult
"Perfect" by Ellen Hopkins
"Shine" by Lauren Myracle
"Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
"Sold" by Patricia McCormick
"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
"The Carnival at Bray" by Jessie Ann Foley
"The Duff: a Novel" by Kody Keplinger
"The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell
"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
"The Haters" by Jesse Andrews
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"The Sun and Her Flowers" by Rupi Kaur
"Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins
"What Girls Are Made Of" by Elana Arnold
"Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire
"You: A Novel" by Caroline Kepnes
Howard-Suamico School District
The Green Bay Press Gazette learned in October that the Howard-Suamico School District had removed 32 books from school libraries in recent years, in response to community requests and as part of regular auditing, according to the district's response to a records request.
The books removed from Howard-Suamico's Bay Port High School Library were:
"A Court of Frost and Starlight" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Silver Flames" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Wings and Ruin" by Sarah J. Maas
"Almost Perfect" by Brian Katche
"Beloved" by Toni Morrison
"Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out" by Susan Kuklin
"Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
"Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda" by Jean-Philippe Stassen
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov
"Marriage of a Thousand Lies" by SJ Sindu
"More Happy than Not" by Adam Silvera
"Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult
"Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon
"Rainbow High" by Alex Sanchez
"Real Live Boyfriends" by Emily Jenkins
"Sloppy Firsts" by Megan McCafferty
"The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein
"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
"The Carnival at Bray" by Jessie Ann Foley
"Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins
"What Can't Wait" by Ashley Hope Pérez
The books removed from Howard-Suamico's Bay View Middle School were:
"l8r, g8r" by Lauren Myracle
"Looking for Alaska" by John Green
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
"What Can't Wait" by Ashley Hope Pérez
The books removed from elementary schools were:
"Drama" by Raina Telgemeier
"Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice" by Marianne Celano and Marietta Collins
New London School District
School board members in New London, a city in Outagamie and Waupaca counties, voted in February to disallow first and second graders from reading two books, “Scary States of Mind: Horror in Maryland” by Rachel Rose and “Tiptoe into Scary Places: Deserted Prisons” by Joyce Markovics, according to the Waupaca County Post.
Sheboygan Area School District
In January, Sheboygan County for Freedoms called on supporters to email Sheboygan Area School District leaders about concerns over "pornographic materials" in school libraries, and to attend the next school board meeting.
Days later, South High School Principal Kevin Formolo informally resolved the concerns by deciding to remove three books, the Sheboygan Press reported.
The books were:
“Are You My Mother?” by Alison Bechdel
“Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" by Alison Bechdel
“Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
Waukesha School District
The Waukesha School District maintains a public spreadsheet of books that have been challenged. It lists 101 titles reviewed in the 2021-22 school year, six in the 2022-23 school year and none for the current school year. The district has not responded to questions about who requested the removals.
Of the books reviewed, the district has removed six:
“This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
"Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness" by Anastasia Higginbotham
"It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie H. Harris
"Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens" by Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke
"Jack of Hearts" by Lev A.C. Rosen
"Lucky" by Alice Sebold
The district "moved up" 15 books to be available only to older students:
"Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
"Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
"How to Be Bad" by Lauren Myracle
"I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika Sánchez
"l8r, g8r" by Lauren Myracle
"Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances" by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
"Love, Hate and Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
"Opposite of Innocent" by Sonya Sones
"Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
"Shine" by Lauren Myracle
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
"TTFN" by Lauren Myracle
"TTYL" by Lauren Myracle
"Under the Moon" by Vera Foxx
"YOLO" by Lauren Myracle
The district also reviewed the book, "Tricks," by Ellen Hopkins, and decided to restrict its access to students with parental permission. In a form about the district's rationale for the decision, the only note related to the book's content stated that the "book is not for everyone."
The district removed another book, "Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens," which had only been available on Sora, a library app.
Elmbrook School District
In late 2021, the Elmbrook School District removed seven books from circulation. The school district's chief strategy officer, Chris Thompson, told the Journal Sentinel the books were removed after "internal review by our District leadership team," following an update to the district's library policies.
According to reporting by the Wisconsin Examiner, a parent had given the school board a list of books to review. The Examiner reported that emails showed that the district had a copy of the list, which had 45 titles, including the seven that were removed.
Thompson and Elmbrook Communications Specialist Eric Hagen have not answered follow-up questions from the Journal Sentinel to clarify the specific procedure for removing the seven books, and whether any other books have been removed since then. Hagen said he would be "happy to chat" about different news in Elmbrook.
The books were:
“Embrace” by Jessica Shirvington
“Perfect” by Ellen Hopkins
“The Infinite Moment of Us” by Lauren Myracle
“This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
“Traffick: The Sequel To Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
“TTYL” by Lauren Myracle
“Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide” by Kathy Belge and Marke Biesche
Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District
Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District voted in June 2022 to require parental permission for students to read the book, "Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe," by Preston Norton.
District records show Stephanie Kirzan asked the district to remove the book from the district because of "profanity, blasphemies, brutality" and "perversion beyond description." The district's complaint review committee voted to reject Kirzan's request, with Superintendent Jeff Holmes explaining, "the overall message of the book is about coming together with people of different backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs to make the school a better place."
Kirzan appealed the decision to the school board, which voted to restrict the book to students who gained parental permission to read it. Holmes said the district has not received any requests to review other materials since then.
Muskego-Norway School District
In June 2022, school board members in Muskego blocked teachers from using the book, "When the Emperor Was Divine,” by Julie Otsuka — a book about the U.S. incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II.
Emails obtained by the Journal Sentinel showed board members were concerned that the novel focused too much on the Japanese-American experience. The decision drew protests from students, parents and others who said it was important for books to reflect diverse experiences.
Green Bay Press Gazette reporter Danielle Duclos contributed to this report.
Contact Rory Linnane at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What books have been banned in Menomonee Falls, Sheboygan, Waukesha