A Texas Republican leader marked an author's books for investigation. Then, the author gave them away for free.

Responding to scrutiny among conservatives of some books exploring issues of race and gender, bestselling author Jason Reynolds sponsored giveaways of several books at bookstores in Texas this week, including four stores in Austin.

The books included three of Reynold’s works: “Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You” and “Stamped (For Kids)” both of which Reynolds co-wrote with Ibram X. Kendi, and “All American Boys,” which Reynolds co-wrote with Brendan Kiely. The list also included “We Are Not Broken” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, “George” by Alex Gino, and versions of the newly published "1619 Project" for kids and adults.

Several of those books are among more than 800 titles that state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, asked certain school districts to catalog as part of an investigation into books in schools related to race and sexuality or that could produce "discomfort" among students.

Other Republican state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have joined parents in multiple school districts expressing concern that some books found in school libraries are inappropriate or even obscene or pornographic.

It was not the first time Reynolds has provided free books as part of Giving Tuesday, the global charitable giving campaign which comes the week after Black Friday. He said he was motivated to do the giveaway in Texas because of recent reports about efforts to remove certain titles from schools.

“When you (limit) access to literature, then you're cutting young people at the knees,” Reynolds told the American-Statesman. “So if that is the problem, and that's what's happening, I can't necessarily control that. But what I can control is a way to create access by simply buying out the inventories and giving the books away.”

Reynolds lives in Washington and is a New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books for young people. He received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award and multiple Coretta Scott King honors. He is currently the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a Library of Congress designation.

4 Austin bookstores

Gregory Day, the operations manager at BookPeople, said the store had about 60 copies on offer as part of the giveaway this week, which extended past Tuesday as supplies lasted.

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Three other smaller bookstores in Austin also gave away a handful of the books — Black Pearl Books on Burnet Road, BookWoman on North Lamar Boulevard and the newly opened Reverie Books on Menchaca Road in South Austin.

A number of the people taking advantage of the free books were educators picking up books for their classrooms. Katrina Brooks, who owns Black Pearl, said a librarian drove from the Pflugerville area to pick up some titles.

“We had a candid conversation about the impact these types of books have on kids at that middle school, especially given the demographic of that area,” she said. “As a bookseller, I personally love what Jason Reynolds is doing for literacy in general, particularly with our youth.”

Susan Post, who owns BookWoman, also said several educators took the free books. Post said she thinks it’s important for young people to have access to different stories and experiences through literature.

“So many of these books are first-person narratives, you’re hearing someone’s story, and often their story will parallel your story,” she said. “To be able to read books of poetry, autobiographical books or novels or journal entries like that, it can be life changing.”

Thais Perkins, the owner of Reverie Books, said the giveaway fit well with her social justice and community mission, which includes getting books into schools. When the store opened three months ago, Perkins said she helped get community funds to donate a classroom set of “Stamped” for an elective course at nearby Crockett High School. The store is also participating in a project on Bookshop.org in which people can donate copies of the "1619 Project," a New York Times examination of the role of slavery in the founding and legacy of the U.S., to local school libraries.

More: A state lawmaker asked schools to catalog books on race and sex. Do they have to comply?

Increase in scrutiny

Parents and politicians have challenged books in schools for decades, but school leaders and librarians say they have seen an increase in scrutiny over book titles amid the recent conservative movement against efforts in schools to address and discuss racism and inequities.

The American Library Association cited a “dramatic uptick” in books being challenged or removed from libraries nationwide recently — the association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has tracked 155 such incidents across the country since June 1.

Reynolds said he chose the books based on reports of the most censored books nationwide. The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom reported that “George,” “Stamped” and “All American Boys'' held the top three spots of most challenged books in 2020.

"George" is about a young transgender girl. "Stamped" introduces readers to the history and continued impacts of racism as well as those who have fought against it. "All American Boys" tells the story of two teenage boys as they handle racism and police brutality in their community.

None of the bookstores reported an uptick in sales of those titles overall since Krause’s list was published in October. Day said that at BookPeople some of the titles on the list, including “In the Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado, “Stamped” and “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi were consistent bestsellers before the list was publicized. However, Day said some readers have specifically asked about books on the list.

“There are definitely people who are coming here that are looking for books that are either on the list or books that deal with the subject matters that the letter addressed to get those books out into their communities or for their families,” he said.

Reynolds said his goal in increasing access to often-censored titles is to give young people the chance to engage with ideas and make up their own minds.

“Books aren't meant to force hands. What books are meant to do is to basically become platforms for discourse,” he said. “A young person can read a book like ‘Stamped’ or a book like ‘All American Boys’ and have the right to disagree. And from that disagreement will come discourse, and that discourse will actually begin to whittle away and carve out who these young people are. And that's important.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Author Jason Reynolds sponsored Austin bookstores to give out free books