Book called “Ban This Book” is now banned in Florida. Its author has this to say about the irony.

Alan Gratz’s children’s book “Ban This Book” was published in 2017. Seven years later, his novel for children ages 8 and up is at the center of a debate over book banning after a Florida school district, last month it took the title literally and banned it. the book.

The Florida school district in Indian River County, where the city of Vero Beach is located, last month voted to remove “Ban This Book” from its shelves. In removing the book, the school board overruled its own review committee, which recommended that the school district keep the novel.

“Ban This Book” is about a student who tries to check out her favorite book in the school library, “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler” by E.L. Konigsburg, only to discover that it has been removed due to a prohibition. She rebels by starting a secret library of banned books – an aspect of the novel that the Florida school board objected to, with one member saying they believed the book’s message was about “openly subverting school boards”.

“The thing they objected to was calling [school officials] in the banning of books. Now the irony is dead.” Gratz told CBS MoneyWatch in a phone call. He added wryly, “I think if you call a book ‘Ban This Book,’ you’re kind of asking for it.”

The Indian River County School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Impact of book bans

Despite the ban, the incident is sparking renewed interest in his novel, Gratz said, although he won’t know the impact of the ban on sales until he receives a royalty statement later this year. Book bans typically hurt sales, he added, and prevent some schools from inviting authors to discuss their work with students.

“In a select few cases, it is true that a banned book equals more sales,” Gratz said. “But for most authors who have banned or challenged books, their books disappear.”

It’s an issue that is impacting more books and authors, with the American Library Association (ALA) finding that the number of books targeted for censorship increased by 65% ​​in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching the highest number of titles ever. documented by the group.

In all, about 4,240 books were targeted in censorship efforts last year, with about half of those books written by or including people of color and people from LGBTQ+ communities, the ALA found.

Gratz said that when “Ban This Book” was published, the most frequently banned books were works from series such as “Harry Potter” or “Captain Underpants,” with some critics objecting to the depictions of witchcraft or attitudes toward authority.

Children’s book authors often support themselves by visiting schools, which pay for travel and offer fees for speaking to students, Gratz said. But a ban could cause school officials to avoid inviting perpetrators to visit school grounds for fear they could get into trouble or even lose their jobs.

“If their book isn’t on the shelf, they won’t be invited,” Gratz said. “When authors of color and those who identify as LGBTQ+ don’t make money from their books, they have to stop writing and earn money from other jobs, then we lose those voices.”

Gratz noted that some of his other books — he’s written 20 in total — have faced bans, but none have received the same attention as “Ban This Book.”

“The big theme of ‘Ban This Book’ is that no one has the right to tell you what book you can and can’t read, except your parents,” he said. “If the book is removed, I will not be able to let my daughter read it – you have already chosen for me that my son cannot read it.”