Designer: how controversial do you want this design? Publisher: yes.

Get an exclusive ​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠‪@Surfshark‬ deal! Enter promo code ITSDIVYA for an extra 3 months free at surfshark.deals/itsdivya . Judging problematic, banned & whitewashed cover designs from the publishing industry. Let's judge books entirely by their misleading cover editions bc sometimes a cover redesign doesn't go well. These are the worst book cover editions.
Ty to Surfshark for the sponsor :) and for you guys for supporting my spons bc it helps support this channel.
Making powerpoint-ing a thing idk.
MORE IN THE SERIES
Designer: how inappropriate do you want this design? Publisher: yes. • Designer: how inapprop...
Designer: how misleading do you want this design? Publisher: yes. • Designer: how misleadi...
Submit suggestions in comments or on ig/twitter/threads and you could influence the next video.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 intro
00:15 oj simpson if i did it
00:57 lolita
01:14 controversial cover designs
01:56 sarah j maas ai book cover
02:13 banned books
03:51 banned - the handmaid's tale
04:48 banned - the brother's Karamazov
05:42 banned - charlotte's web
06:09 banned - the diary of anne frank
06:38 banned - captain underpants
07:17 banned - the dictionary
07:27 whitewashing in books
09:06 barnes and noble diverse editions
09:51 ABS
• • • • • • • • • • •
✶ MY LINKS ✶
BUSINESS ENQUIRIES
↪ [e-mail]
TWITTER
↪ / itsdivyag
INSTAGRAM
↪ / itsdivyag
TIKTOK
↪ / itsdivyag
GOODREADS
↪ / divya-g
(my account is set to private so to add me as a friend open up the page in a desktop setting if you are using a mobile device/tablet)
✶ VIDEO DETAILS ✶
CAMERA
↪ Canon 650D
VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE
↪ Premiere Pro CC
THUMBNAIL
↪ Photoshop CC

[@itsdivyag]

stay safe from bad people trying to steal your harry styles omegaverse fanfic 😤 get an exclusive Surfshark deal! Enter promo code ITSDIVYA for an extra 3 months free at surfshark.deals/itsdivya

[@Armistice_]

The "IF I did it" design hiding the IF is top tier.

[@itsdivyag]

designer ate

[@KariIzumi1]

That was so based of the Goldmans

[@oh-kw2st]

Captain Underpants beign banned more times than Fifty Shades of Gray is the most American thing I can think of

[@user-tw3rh9po4t]

Fifty Shades is trash and very unnecessarily -fucking- vulgar while the Captain Underpants series is classic.

[@victoriapulcifer6218]

It's because Captain Underpants is actually anti-authority while 50 Shades reinforces mysoginist power dynamics, in this essay I will

[@noinfo1018]

It’s probably because most places don’t have 50 shades of gray in the first place since it’s very inappropriate. Can’t ban it if you don’t have it to be banned

[@DanyUiy]

The reason to ban the dictionary not being "because pronouns" surprised me

[@thebluest_blue1145]

i remember there was a whole controversy when dictionaries started updating the definition of "marriage" to include same sex marriage

[@DrZaius3141]

@@thebluest_blue1145 Conservatives want dictionaries to be prescriptive, progressives want them to be descriptive. Because the first group wants to force people into a certain way whereas the latter just wants to reflect reality.

[@itsdivyag]

pls don't give them ideas

[@cactus2260]

​@@thebluest_blue1145one dictionary got bomb threats after adding a more inclusive definition under woman

[@kristavaillancourt6313]

I love that the hunger games is banned. Could it be they want a world very similar to the hunger games and Suzanne is telling on them? 😅

[@itsdivyag]

honestly it's incredibly ironic. Suzanne's already reflecting the world we live in

[@PotatoWaffle-sl4xf]

@@itsdivyag I’m convinced Suzanne is a time traveller

[@isabellareardonramos8965]

5:14 the Property Brothers Karamazov

[@itsdivyag]

THIS WAS GOING TO BE MY ALT JOKE I DIDN'T INCLUDE

[@3bananenmitnemkontrabass478]

I don't disagree with criticising the trope of "charsvter of colour turns into an animal", but since turning red was literally directed by a woman with chinese heritage and the screenplay was written by women with chinese heritage as well, I think it deserves a pass....also she is mostly a human in the movie and only spends a little time as a panda :D

[@itsdivyag]

that is fair i do still think the whole turning into an animal/other being trope is very overdone esp for disney/pixar

[@catapultato1733]

​@@itsdivyagi mean, the only pixar films with a normal human with no special powers as the protagonist are up, brave, inside out (if you count riley rather than joy), soul, and lightyear?

[@bobbirdsong6825]

@@catapultato1733having a special power i think is different than not being human

[@catapultato1733]

@@bobbirdsong6825 the only ones that special power excluded that weren't part non-human were the incredibles. a vast majority of pixar protagonists are non-human

[@bobbirdsong6825]

@@catapultato1733 i'd count a couple more but you're correct about pixar though. it has been less of an issue for pixar than disney proper, where it's more of a thing, also because they just don't have a lot of black characters for some reason

[@joshoonet]

I just lost my mind at the diverse frankenstein cover a little bit bc... the whole thing of the novel is how repulsive the monster looks??? Why would you?? make that a diverse cover??

[@itsdivyag]

they said we're not going to publish more stories written by different people and giving them a voice when we can just change the cover instead

[@chaseweber6823]

Let us not forget the monster, the "man" Dr. Frankenstein built was very specificly described as beautiful repeatedly, with their only unappealing trait being their eyes.

[@jme7046]

So inclusive that it loops back to being racist lmao

[@roxanne_]

The art cover is mediocre at best because the style of art doesn’t even suit the book. But adding a black person as “Frankenstein” 💀 like DID THEY EVEN READ IT?? Plus I know the movie adaptation of Frankenstein is like what everyone knows but Frankenstein doesn’t have bolts or anything like that, it’s a “creature” made to look like a large 8ft man who was conventionally attractive to look at with “yellow skin”.

[@anitanielsen1061]

THEY’RE BANNING PRIMARY-SOURCE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES NOW?!???

[@mellieg.7543]

Why must you remind me that Barnes and Noble "Diverse Classics" Cover was a thing they did??? 😭

[@C0C0N0T]

Just seeing the Little Women cover again in the ad read made me burst out laughing, its so good 😂

[@itsdivyag]

honestly its so iconic

[@cRazYhYPerPenGuin]

i would laugh for the rest of my life if someone i knew had an entire collection of classic books except they were all the ‘illustrated platinum edition’ or the chaotic eighties covers

[@itsdivyag]

they're collectors of art

[@saneira]

5:36 Why does the Wuthering Heights cover look like Just Dance 2???

[@itsdivyag]

PLLEEAAASE

[@anitanielsen1061]

Little Women is about THREE SISTERS and their mom, not just one! It’s in the freaking name!

[@Melanie-jy2nw]

4 sisters actually

[@elisomethingorother]

Little Women is about four sisters, but yes, it's about all of them, not just one.

[@itsdivyag]

to be fair at least the woman does look little

[@julias.6658]

I mean one dies, so by the end it’s three sisters 🤷‍♀️

[@omatic_opulis9876]

little woman

[@manmoy4104]

Sarah J Maas will never give up her 'Book of Word and Imagery' title format like she really set the standard for all fantasy romance authors who think they understand mythology

[@robertborland5083]

Ah yes, the classic Noun of Noun and Noun. I have heard excellent things about "Nipples of Glass and Cold".

[@itsdivyag]

waaaait is this a reference to an old video of mine or two great minds converging in coincidence

[@itsdivyag]

the blueprint

[@robertborland5083]

@@itsdivyag It was an attempt to reference that older video. EDIT: [Technically referencing a comment to that video, but a reference nonetheless.]

[@DeathnoteBB]

I’m pretty sure A Song of Ice and Fire started the trend

[@LaifaCanyonLurker]

6:28 i literally had to read AND listen to an audiobook of this and people are banning it??

[@qq-me2vo]

great pfp

[@user-jf4wp4ce5w]

Apparently the book Fahrenheit 451 by Rad Bradbury also got banned despite being a book against the very actions of censoring?? Seriously what’s happening

[@project-gladiator]

They take away the weapons to wich threaten the same tyrany they are enforcing. The first thing you ban is that which you fiel insults you. Either by representing gay relationships to you, a conservative, or by talking against your actions.

[@Dkdklmnop]

bruv in my country they banned a sociology book because it contained a brief MENTION of gay-parent families in an entire section of families and dynamics. They didn't even elaborate - just acknowledged it. It was mad infuriating.

[@pika1222]

I’m sorry, but learning that people thought that Captain Underpants was as inappropriate as Fifty Shades of F**king Gray made my god damn day

[@amesstarline5482]

6:53 Weird fact, one of the main characters was found out to be gay.. in a timeskip in the last book of the 12-book series. It's treated casually.

[@bobbirdsong6825]

something i appreciate about your videos (even though it's not that prevalent here) is that your commentary feels very relevant and almost poetic. not in the sense that you're good at making words sound pretty but in the sense that you can communicate feelings very subtlety, it's not just the editing its the way everything is set up. it's artistic and if i ever make videos it's something i'd like to emulate

[@itsdivyag]

wowow this comment. thank you so much for supporting and i really appreciate you noticing the serious messages in the lightheartedness. i hope you make the videos!

[@bobbirdsong6825]

@@itsdivyag i'm glad you appreciate it! i've been wanting to do it just as a journal if you will but i'm a chronic procrastinator :)

[@kyndalgainor930]

It’s so interesting to me that The Handmaid’s Tale is banned in a lot of places because it’s required reading in grade 11 in my school system

[@dudedaniel1127]

Because Conservatives hate when someone describes their ideal society as a bad thing

[@sakura_the_saltshaker]

1:34 NO THATS JAIL TIME FOR YOU 💀 that was an iconic scene though-

[@qkiwita]

Putting Shevchenko on that cover is so out of left field and insulting at the same time

[@fourcatsandagarden]

I'm so curious about the dictionary one - was it an honest effort or a 'this is how ridiculous you look, by your standards the dictionary should also be banned' protest challenge?

[@itsdivyag]

the dictionary was real they tried to ban it for being graphic in it's definition about sexual acts... which is like... the point of a dictionary is to define...

[@captainbaekho]

i dont get when covers are deceiving (whitewashing mostly). when i read a book, if there is a character on the cover, i hope it matches the description. but i guess i get they want racists to literally judge the book by the cover, buy it and then get angry when the characters are described inside??? idk weirdo behaviour.

[@mcssy]

The Shevchenko book cover must be one of the most tone deaf things I have seen in my life, top five at least

[@cardboard2night]

The way i CHOCKED

[@lordfreerealestate8302]

Passive-aggressive book covers need to be more of a thing.

[@sheriffboss6544]

doing dracula daily (or more accuratly being obsessed wiht the podcast version of it - re:dracula) AND I AM AFFRONTED at the cover at 5:37 . but also at the same time i cant help just putting that stinky man in all the scenes where dracula appears AMPLIFIES THE TERRROR (im not joking if i was jonathan harker i would shit myself i would not wait till i get to the park to forget about whatever happened i would do it as soon as i see it purely for that crime to humanity those fashion choices. THE HAIR (context latest ep has man having a ptsd amnesia episode at seeing drac again warranted ) BUT ALSO WUTHERING HEIGHTS???????? I GAVE UP ON THAT BOOK BECAUSE IT WAS SO BLOODY CONFUSING WHY ARE ALL THE NAMES THE SAME BUT THAT SPIN FOR ME GIRL ON FIRE SHIT DOES NOT CORRELATE TO HEATHCLIFFE IS AN APPARENT BASTARD PLOT OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS WHAT

[@sheriffboss6544]

not the DICTIONARY??????? WHAT . also prank patrol!!! my beloved - we have an aussie version i was obbsessed iwht as a kid they had flash games , i would quote : release the ninjas!!! all the time the us would never be able to deal with it at ALL (aussie version is superior no i will not take any criticisms)

[@sheriffboss6544]

actully seeing the romeo and juliet muslim version - makes me laugh like bestie no muslim women has that low standards for a man like romeo (well in my section of the community that is) and like it literally says in the opening monolouge "FAIR VERONA WHERE WE LAY OUR SCENE" THIS IS CANONICAL ITALY

[@sheriffboss6544]

i should probably stop reacting to these vids like im liveblogging but they are the HIGHLIGHT of my week or like timeperiod in which u upload - u know what i mean

[@sheriffboss6544]

also divya - have you seen the new ballad of the songbirds and snakes trailer? it makes me go feral . also have i mentioned how much i love your content lately! so Nice (put all the emotion liek how much water is behind the niagra falls Alot (i have no idea im aussie please tell me the niagra falls aint fake ill be lying facedown in a pool like gatsby) the editing? the Atmosphere?????? so good genuinly

[@itsdivyag]

no pls continue it's very entertaining for me it's like a live chat

[@spiral32]

this series is GOLD

[@itsdivyag]

comment is gold ty for ur support

[@VC-cx8gf]

wait we had prank patrol in canada too, same concept but with a canadian host

[@wildtamer4461]

Ok this has. not much to do with controversial covers, but book cover changes generally. The 'Warrior Cats' series, by Erin Hunter, for the first 4 or so booksets (arcs), had art done by a fantastic artist who made each book cover look unique, but in a way that the spines of the books would fit together to make an image when you put the whole set side by side. It was fantastic, it was great. But then, i believe, he died. And they replaced the artwork with weirdly realistic, off-description oddly framed close ups of cat faces. Like, it says nothing about the story, you can barely tell who the character is. And then, as of the most recent arc, its just three cats with badly drawn faces behind a dark background. Its such a shame that marketers dont seem to appreciate the effort that goes into book cover art anymore. If you need an example of this book cover change, look up the old and new covers for the book Midnight, its an absolute crime.

[@redglassesart]

Me sipping a nice cup of tea and enjoying a new itsdivyag video. Life’s good 😊

[@itsdivyag]

tysm for supporting g

[@comedyroses]

Heya! Without dragging this amazing video into the realm of politics, I live in France and I thought I’d mention that that second header at 4:20 is very misleading :/ hijabs, as well as Christian symbolism (cross necklaces etc.) are banned only In state schools. You can wear these religious symbols in the street, at work, at gatherings, in museums etc. The reason for the ban is rooted, as another comment said, in what we call laïcité, I.e the separation between different churches and the state. The concept of laïcité is vastly misunderstood by countries outside of France. In France, it’s not that religion is banned, it’s that you’re free to practice whatever religion you want. The catch is that it shouldn’t be linked with any government institutions, (like state schools) because there’s that separation. That’s why we don’t have religious lessons at school, for example. I hope that helped clarify things! If you have any questions, feel free to ask :D

[@anitanielsen1061]

Thank FUCK I got “The Color Purple” when I did, or I wouldn’t have been able to do school for it!

[@dededededede]

Y'all had Prank Patrol in UK? I thought it was solely a Canadian thing

[@itsdivyag]

the aus, can and uk alliance on prank patrol

[@nidjiunanatshi]

So happy you got a sponsor! Congrats Divya G. The G stands for G6 babyyyyy

[@itsdivyag]

it's bc you guys support me we did it lads

[@schokolebkuchen]

I'm french and I watch your videos because I like your humor and your channel... I'm always surprised when I see you speak about french covers... and even more about politic. I want to explain to non-french people the controversy about burkini, hijab etc... In France we have a separation between the Church and state (since 1905), so we are attached to securalism. It mean that everybody can have his religion and practice it without the state coming to control, and it mean also you don't have religion classes en school (except in Alsace and Moselle because the regions were German at the time of the law...). Racist people and right-wing use secular to condemn Islam by saying that one should not see someone's religion through their clothes (so no hijab, abaya, burkini, notably in school, etc...) (but no problem with catholicism, you can wear you religious bracelet in school). This years, Education Minister Gabriel Attal banned the abaya in class. All the politic spheres have their eyes fixed on girl's clothes (last year it was crop top... old white men are obsessed with young girls' clothes... meh). All racist people are happy, all "woke" people (left-wing, minority, feminist etc) are angry about this racism and control on girl's body. Every year, the minister talk about the idea of come back with uniform... etc. The real problems are not girl's clothes but school problem. We don"t have enough professor (many mid-school student don"t have all their professors in example), we have many bullies in school (the latest scandal are the 55 letters from the rectorate of Versailles which tell the parents of students who are victims of harassment and SA "not to bother" the teachers), classes are overcrowded (more than 30 students in high school !!) and buildings very old and not ready for heat waves and the teacher's salaries are very low... It's not an exhaustive list (if you want to explain other things, don't hesitate !) Government prefers polemics about religion and girls' clothes instead that we talk about reals problems !

[@MsGloomyLamp]

Love these videos, and with each new one I love them even more. I didn’t even skip the ad part cause it was that good 😃

[@itsdivyag]

this is so sweet thank you so much im glad you enjoy it :)

[@skeletonflower5252]

Nah The if I Did It design is low key genius like we all know the truth but legally we can't say he actually did it😂

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

Not cooking with Pooh 😂😂😂

[@juno5756]

I'm laughing SO HARD at that dracula cover, catch me showing up to my victorian monsters class with hot emopunk dracula on the cover of my book

[@justmahir]

I didn't know I needed this video on my life until now 😂

[@Natalie66796]

Vladimir is probably rolling in his grave at what people have made his book

[@PotatoWaffle-sl4xf]

I saw a Lolita cover in which a young woman probably around 20 or something like that, but you know….A LEGAL ADULT, was wearing a soaked-through bikini biting her lip at the camera. Like it honestly horrified me that a book about a man sexually abusing a 12 year old was being treated like a smut story

[@juniperjabber]

1:42 wait WHAT 😨

[@mac8697]

Added level of losing my mind when you're discussing Anne Frank's diary ban for being "a real downer" at 3:36 because the screencap also says they banned "A Doll's House" for "propagating feminist views". Amazing point about not needing to relate to everything you read. A banger video as always.

[@abbywolffe4114]

The diverse Romeo and Juliet cover is so much worse 😭 because it makes it seem like the two houses are having a race war when they just don’t like each other

[@orionh5535]

Its itsdivya G! The G stands for, I see why you dropped that bit, need a more versetile letter.

[@kjarakravik4837]

Ooh I didn't even realise the g was gone!!

[@itsdivyag]

or was it... ever... there.. g is for gaslit...

[@mehakverma7043]

"This whole cover is giving PRISON"

[@scarabee04]

The book cover expert is back

[@averysmallcaptain]

the queen has blessed us once again

[@itsdivyag]

first comment w

[@altaaair]

out of topic, but can someone please tell me the color of her hair? it's soooo pretty!

[@dyinginside821]

I think the color is mahogany from a google search :) hope this helps

[@itsdivyag]

helloo it's a faded copper i think inoa 7.43/ 7.44 not sure..

[@altaaair]

@@itsdivyag thank you so much! it really looks great on you!

[@juniperjabber]

7:19 great. just amazing. 😐 /s

[@isthatachicken]

✨Marcus Burtilin✨

[@itsdivyag]

fave russian influencer

[@aaegean]

I suggested the book If I did it. Thanks for including it in your video. Huge fan! 😁

[@itsdivyag]

propelled the whole video concept truly thank you!

[@aaegean]

@@itsdivyag You’re welcome. Love this series!!

[@ngtskynebula]

These videos are great classes on how to not fuck up your book's cover 🤧

[@yamataichul]

Let's make up for inequality by doubling down... _both ways_ ✊👊

[@sahilhossian8212]

Lore of Designer: how controversial do you want this design? Publisher: yes. Momentum 100

[@mehakverma7043]

Honestly, AO3 should be banned. The shit I come across on that platform is unparalleled

[@adamdoestheatre6539]

I think we’ve had too much high fructose corn syrup here in the US since we’re being hella dumb

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

Ao3 is banned in China???

[@itsdivyag]

you can use a vpn but yeah it's blocked

[@Painocus]

I mean, Ged transforming into a bird was an important moment in the first Earthsea book (tho the way transformation is described in the book is nothing like on that cover)... that doesn't explain why those other guys are white tho, since there are like one or maybe two white people in that whole book, and the white person and the maybe-white person are never on "screen" at the same time. Is one of those white guys meant to be Vetch? That better not be Vetch.

[@_victoria427]

I thought Sarah J. Maas was against AI "art"? I'm not sure how the publishing industry works so maybe she didn't choose the cover. But if she could choose and decided AI was ok that's a big yikes.

[@thebluest_blue1145]

authors usually don't have control over the cover. iirc what happend was that the publisher hired a cover artist, that artist used AI art without disclosing it and the publisher didn't check

[@zarajacobsakafaith7665]

Not the low key calling out the mouse company/and the lamp company.😂 If you know what i mean

[@AnneliesDeroy]

Publishers: B-but you need to relate to the books! How else could your tiny little dumb buyer brain grasp what the writer imagined? With written descriptions?? Alright, let me marry someone and lock them up in the attic real quick before reading, just to immerse myself in the story y'know? /j

[@lillipad_frog]

My favorite series covered made the love interest white (they are in fact, a brown skinned Arab woman)

[@bboleyngirl]

WAIT UNTIL YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THE BE MORE CHILL COVER…

[@almondtofuchan3157]

They did Carter so dirty wtf 😭

[@chaseweber6823]

Did somebody say, "First and Nineth amendments voilations?!"

[@higherquality]

8:55 lmao that joke is so ridiculously stupid it's kinda funny

[@esperate]

whitewashing is a large issue, however I would argue about the ATLA movie, not that it’s good bc it was a pos let’s be fr, but they couldn’t have casted anyone for the right roles. The races in the fictional world of ATLA are just that - fictional. They aren’t asian, african, european, american nor australian, they are a different race on their own completely, a non-existent one. And while I agree they could’ve casted someone with darker skin for Katara and Sokka for example, it’s still hard to cast anyone to play a non-existent race, you know?

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

As Ukrainian, the Brother Karamazov cover is probably the funniest symbolism which perfectly describe ruzzian relations with Ukraine and other Eastern European countries .

[@sophiethepegasus]

Excuse me, why the fuck did I think you were Canadian

[@dylanjl6440]

I thought she was Australian 😭

[@dylanjl6440]

I love her anyways 💗

[@itsdivyag]

my accent isnt defined by borders

[@scarlettptheoriginal]

e-galáxia really needs to stop using AI images on their covers. Abs should not look like that, and fingers should not bend like that.

[@isthatachicken]

Okay a [45] few minutes late but we're heeeere

[@itsdivyag]

this is super early!!

[@renatashp]

*I have nothing against turning people into animals, I believe that this does not mean anything big in relation to ethnicity, but rather to show how we are like animals and should feel empathy for them, in fact that is the whole lesson of Brother Bear*

[@redloveblacksorrow]

I would like to note that it's not "because the author is Russian". Dostoyevsky was a chauvinist and a raging ukrainophobe, just like any other famous Russian classic lol. I get that the Italian university has nothing to do with the Russian-Ukrainian history, but when it comes to "the big Russian literature", these things don't happen just because it's Russian. The reasoning for banning books is oftentimes ridiculous, but as a Ukrainian I think the most important thing people should do about Russian classic literature is recognize how rooted it is in hatred for Ukrainians and I'm sure other nations that wanted independence at the time of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union. I think instead of banning that Dostoyevsky course they could've had a discussion about that instead.

[@itsdivyag]

agree with bottom sentiment. learnt something new. thank you for the added context :)

[@anastasiaekimova5101]

Huh ... What was unkrainophobic?

[@kalpic11]

I've been listening to the court of thorns a roses series... I did not notice the bowel stuff lmao

[@itsdivyag]

an angel was protecting u that day

[@silver_dusk]

The one about the French version of the handmade tale but with the abaya on the cover instead particularly pissed me off, especially how the French government treats Muslims who wearing religious clothes so terribly, I may not be a French citizen but I feel sorry for them, this book cover is a perfect example of this.

[@arvinroidoatienza7082]

AFAIK Taras Shevchenko was a Russian Ukrainian esteened by Ukrainians as a national hero. I guess no one got the memo.

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

In what fantasy world do you live to even have "Russian Ukrainian" as a concept and have the ideal of anti-tsarist pro-independence Ukrainian born in the family of pretty much slave tied to it?

[@alpyki2588]

I'm just going to say this about banned books in the US and leave. These books are being banned in school libraries, not libraries for the general public. For those unfamiliar, a school library is only meant for students who go to the school. If I as an adult, or even as a child who went to another school, try to use one, I'd get turned away. As a child I could go into any public library and just get something like "A Clockwork Orange," or "Fifty Shades of Grey," or even bad man's from WWII, and no one could stop me. The public libraries cater to everyone for every book. Kids still have access to these banned books, just not through their school. If their local public library does not have a book, they can request a copy be sent to that library. The issue is that public schools, often for kids under 12, are being taught things that they should have no knowledge of, such as (a KZbin friendly example) b-jobs, because either uniformed school librarians are ordering such books without reading them, or they know exactly what's in these books and just don't care. A lot of the books that are getting dinged for sexual content are also getting dinged for LGBT themes. Lawn Boy and Looking for Alaska are good examples. Parents both have a problem exposing their child to sexual topics when they aren't ready, and some of them have a problem of their tax money going to buy these books, sometimes in large classroom sets. If you have a child and really want them to read any of the banned books, just take them to the public library. No one is stopping anyone from using them. The only conceivable excuse someone could have for not using them is time, preference, and just simply not being physically able to go there... but then you can rent a book online oftentimes from the libraries in the form of an Ebook!

[@thebluest_blue1145]

I'm not sure where you got this information from, but books are absolutely being challenged and banned from public libraries as well. Local officials have cut funding to libraries if they didn't remove 'problematic' books. Look up what happend with the Craighead County libraries in Arkansas and the Patmos Library in Michigan. Missouri Republicans voted to defund all libraries in their annual budget this year, that ultimately didn't happen but it was a scary moment.

[@scarlettptheoriginal]

Your third paragraph is pure right-wing propaganda. Have you actually read any of the books you mentioned in that paragraph? And WHY is it so horrible to teach children that LGBTQ+ people exist? Reading about queer people DOES NOT turn kids queer! If reading about a sexuality turned kids into having that sexuality, I and a gajillion other sheltered queer kids would be straight today. Your logic is faulty.

[@thrawncaedusl717]

I kind of agree with you. I think high schools should have access to all of the books mentioned, and classes specifically discussing them are good, but my grade school library let me access some “classics” that I definitely should not have read (ie I learned what SA was before I learned what sex was). LGBTQ books are getting caught in the crossfire (mostly because they do want to push the issue of how it is acceptable to talk about sex to kids), but there was/is a real problem with school libraries making age-inappropriate books available to grade schoolers with no oversight (unlike the public library, where parents generally have control of their kids accounts to an extent).