STRONGER NEWS - May 2026 - 94.7% Aware of our Privilege

Hello freedom to read advocates! 3 updates this month. 

1) PEN America just released the latest analysis of 3,743 unique titles banned in the 2024-2025 school year. Important highlights we are watching – 19% of all banned titles featured Trans characters or themes and 44% featured a person of color – the highest evidence of the transphobic and racist underpinnings of book banning since PEN America started counting in 2021. 

2) H.R. 7661 is a government censorship bill that is heading for a vote (probably soon) in the US House of Representatives. It reveals what we already know, that book banning is being used as a tool to isolate, target, and discriminate against under-represented people and communities. We need your help to stop it.

WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP urges everyone reading this to:

1. a)   Reach out to your representative to vote NO on House Bill 7661, and to instead support the freedom—and the right—to read. Here are three ways to do so:
2.   5 calls can help you find and contact your rep
3.   This page at the US House of Representatives website can help you find your rep and contact them as well.

iii.    The League of Conservation Voters has a helpful guide to calling your members of congress here.

1. b)   Share this call to action with your networks and community, both online and in person.
2. c)   Support our allied organizations’ efforts to fight this national book ban, including Authors Against Book Bans, United Against Book Bans, EveryLibrary, the American Booksellers Association, PEN America, and others.
3. d) Buy a sticker, buy a shirt, or donate directly to WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP as we collectively push back against book banning and get books directly into the hands of young readers for whom they’ll mean so much.

3) Our slightly snarky subject line is a response to the Mac Barnett controversy (see the PW article here to catch up.) Mac’s snarky and careless statement about 94.7% of children’s books being “crud” is a reminder for all of us creators to be aware of our own privilege and the responsibility we have when our words are heard. We’re fans of Kelly Barnhill’s response on Bluesky, where Kelly writes: “I just don't know who that was for. Certainly not for the child reader who goes to their library to find it sparser, whiter, straighter, less open, less welcoming, less free. Certainly not for the author or illustrator who encounters more closed doors if they are the wrong gender or color.”

As children’s book creators ourselves, we felt slightly better about the whole mess when Kelly shared these words for authors, illustrators, and translators of kid lit: “If it [your book] is treasured by a child, then that book is a treasure.” 

Kids treasuring books is at the heart of WE ARE STRONGER THAN CENSORSHIP and our fight for the freedom to read.

Thank you for reading, and for all that you do to ensure the freedom to read. Remember that when all of us join in the movement, We Are Stronger Than Censorship.