Stephen King named most banned author in US schools

Best-selling author Stephen King was named the most banned writers of the 2024-2025 school year in PEN America’s latest report tracking book censorship in the U.S. 

Some 87 titles among King's oeuvre, which includes "The Stand," "It" and "The Shining," were banned 206 times during the school year, PEN America said.

Its report found that between July 2024 and this June there were 6,870 instances of book bans in 87 school districts across 23 states. PEN America counts any instance of a book pulled off a shelf as a ban.  

Florida is called the top state for book banning for the third year in a row, followed by Texas and Tennessee.  

“Censorship pressures have expanded and escalated, taking on different forms — laws, directives, guidance that sow confusion, lists of books mislabeled as ‘explicit’ materials, and ‘do not buy’ lists,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program.  

“A disturbing ‘everyday banning’ and normalization of censorship has worsened and spread over the last four years. The result is unprecedented,” she added. 

PEN America said books have been targeted by groups with “anti-woke, anti-DEI, and anti-LGBTQ+ stances.” 

The top banned books were “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, “Breathless” by Jennifer Niven, “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas.