The Cobb County School District announced Thursday that six more sexually explicit books have been removed from library shelves, bringing to 26 the number of titles that have been withdrawn over the last year.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said during a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday that the most recent removals, like the others, were deemed inappropriate for school children.
They include five books by fantasy author Sarah J. Maas:
- “A Court of Wings and Ruin”
- “A Court of Thorns and Roses”
- “A Court of Mist and Fury”
- “A Court of Frost and Starlight
- “A Court of Silver Flames”
The other book is “Iron Fire” by David Ball, who writes historical fiction.
The work of both authors is aimed at young adult readers, although Maas’ books are also read by teenagers.
A Maas book was temporarily banned in Charlotte-Mecklenberg (N.C.) schools in late 2023 after a parental complaint.
“A Court of Mist and Fury” was among the 10 “most challenged books” for 2022 according to the American Library Association, covering library, school, and university materials and services.
A recent review of Maas’ work at Entertainment Weekly acknowledged the amount of sexual content in her books, but argues that “the reality of life is that passion, desire, lust, and love all occur alongside sadness, death, and war. Why are so many hell-bent on framing books that acknowledge that reality as lesser titles just because they’re popular with teenage girls (who, frankly, deserve more credit for driving pop culture and taste)?”
Ragsdale’s announcement came just before takingAstandcobb, a local citizens group, held a press conference “about pornography in Cobb schools.”
“I encourage you, especially those who defend this content, to read the excerpts before doing so,” he said in prepared remarks at the work session.
“Google them. Use community web sites. Go to the book store. Go to the public library. I trust you will conclude that like rated R movies children should not be provided unrestricted access to all media.”
He said the Cobb school district has more than a million total media assets and “will remain broadly inclusive of the diverse individuals, groups, stories, and experiences of our nation.
If parents wish to introduce their children to such subjects outside of schooltime, Ragsdale said, they are free to do so.
But as “a public school serving over 100,000 students, we are not going to impose that choice on other people’s children.”
At a board meeting Thursday night, several parents objected to the continuing book removals, and some wore purple shirts saying “Ban Bias Not Books.”
One of them is Mary Davis, mother of a middle-school student, who read from an author, Emma Kress, who said that “when we ban books, we teach them that some people, possibly even them, can and should be made invisible.”
Quoting Kress again, Davis said that that “in my experience, people, young ones included, a quite good about making choices about what to read.
“It’s a powerful thing that a child can sit down with a book they’re not yet ready for or do not need. It’s a powerful thing for a child to know that the adults surrounding them enough to trust that they can choose books for themselves.
“You can put the books back. You can open the doors to the library and invite children into the joy of reading.”
The Kress book that Davis held up, “Dangerous Play,” is not among those removed from Cobb school libraries.
On Friday, takingAstandcobb said that “our county saw over 40 parents, students, men, women, gay, straight, of faith and not, defend Cobb’s children. We’re supporting a Board that is removing porn from schools and calling out those who support the sexual exploitation of children.”
The group’s leaders are Francisco Vega, a pastor at A.R.C. City Church in West Cobb and parent Arielle Kurtz.
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- Here’s what you didn’t hear about Cobb school book removals
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I agree with Ms. Davis that young people can make good decisions. However, they can’t decide until they read the book,and what is read, can’t be unread. I am a former middle school teacher and grandmother of an eighth grade girl who is an avid reader. I have refused to buy her certain books because I am guarding her innocence. There are appropriate ages at which to introduce certain ideas and realities. Determining that age is the domain of parents and grandparents.