Here are all banned, restricted books in Manatee County schools after new Florida law

From young adult novels turned into movies, to picture books about insects, the School District of Manatee County has submitted its list of banned or restricted books to the state after a new Florida law passed last year.

Parents or other members of the community have complained about 43 books — all of which were library books and not part of a curriculum.

All of the books were marked “inappropriate for grade level and age group.” None of the books were listed as pornographic, prohibited by the new law, or “not suited to students needs and ability to comprehend.”

Some of the books include well-known titles like “Push” which inspired the Academy Award-winning movie “Precious,” the book-turned-Netflix-series “13 Reasons Why” which raised national controversy over its depiction of suicide, and the 2015 wide-release movie based on the book “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”

Many of the 43 books have been listed as controversial in other parts of the country or on national websites that provide reports on books that may have content inappropriate for minors. Ten books are listed as inappropriate for minors by Moms For Liberty, a conservative organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center recently listed as an extremist group.

Educational standards have been politicized in Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis, particularly content involving Black history, sex and the LGBTQ+ community.

This week, protesters marched in Miami over the new standards for African American history. In Tampa’s Hillsborough County, Shakespeare works like “Romeo and Juliet” will only be taught in excerpts, not the full text, despite it being one of the state education commissioner’s books of the month for August. In Lake County near Orlando, the school district pulled a children’s book about a male penguin couple hatching a chick but later reversed the decision.

Manatee County made national headlines earlier this year when some schools interpreted the new law to mean all books had to be removed from classrooms and libraries until they were approved, which led to viral photos of bookshelves that were covered or empty.

Book complaints in Manatee County

On the Manatee County list of banned or restricted books, eight books have gay, transgender or gender-fluid characters, and three books are about families with LGBTQ+ parents.

Other content in some of the books include graphic language, incest, rape and sexual abuse, drug use, violence, animal abuse, underage drinking, prostitution, suicide, domestic violence, puberty, sexual harassment, racism or communism.

But some books don’t appear to have any content related to recent hot-button topics, such as children’s picture books about insects and pangolins, and an illustrated children’s book about a hugging lion.

One complaint from an anonymous email claimed a short story and poem in a language arts textbook, Usula K. Le Guin’s “She Unnames Them” and W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming,” contradict “the official word of the Bible” and defame Christianity. Both are creative retellings of a part of the Bible.

Yeats is one of the most well-respected figures in literature, and the poem is an allegory for post-war Europe and considered a major work of modernist poetry. “Teachers across the county should be instructed to skip this poem and it should not be assigned,” the complaint said. The textbook is not on the restricted or banned list.

A few graphic novels are on the list, including two Japanese manga books and “The Talk” by Pulitzer-prize-winning editorial cartoonist Darrin Bell. One graphic novel, “Friends Forever” by Shannon Hale, is about an eighth-grader with depression learning to love herself.

“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, considered a modern classic of Chicano literature, was found to have a “mild reference to violence.” It was removed from K-5 libraries, restricted for grades 6-8 and remains available for grades 9-12.

Five books include either fiction or nonfiction accounts of racism, people of color being shot by police, or negative encounters with law enforcement, like “The Hate U Give.”

The complaints claimed the books have “racist commentary” and “misrepresent history and policing in America,” and one “promotes BLM (Black Lives Matter)“

At least two books include depictions of slavery, “My Jim” by Nancy Rawls and “Sold” by Patricia McCormick, which is written from the perspective of a 13-year-old girl from Nepal sold into sexual slavery.

However, on the county’s required summer reading lists are books that deal with slavery, race and Black history, such as “The Souls of Blacks Folks” by W.E.B. DuBois, “Negro Women” by Condoleezza Rice, and “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs.

Also on the grades 9-12 summer reading list is “Fahrenheit 451,” about a version of American society where books are outlawed and burned. It was inspired by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and serves as a warning about state censorship.

Removed from all K-12 libraries

(Listed reason: Not grade appropriate for content in elementary and grade level expectations in high school.)

• “I am Jazz” by Jessica Herthel

• “When Aiden Became a Brother” by Kyle Lukoff

• “Lily and Dunkin” by Donna Gephart

• “What on Earth is a Pangolin” by Edward Ricciuti

• “Friends Forever” by Shannon Hale

• “Insect” by Laurence Mound

(Listed reason: Not appropriate for school libraries due to mature content.)

• “Red Hood” by Elana Arnold

• “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins

• “Push” by Sapphire

• “L8r, G8r” by Lauren Myracle

• “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews

• “Ready or Not” by Meg Cabot

• “Sold” by Patricia McCormick

• “The Talk” by Darrin Bell

• “The 57 Bus” by Dashka Slater

• “The Art of Junji Ito: Twisted Visions” by Junji Ito

• “My Hero Academia Origin: Volume 5” by Kohei Horikoshi

Removed from K-3 libraries

• “The Family Book” by Todd Parr

• “Mothers Are a Part of a Family” by Lucia Raatma

• “In Our Mother’s House” by Patricia Polacco

• “Fathers are a Part of a Family” by Lucia Raatma

• “Families, Families, Families” by Suzanne and Max Lang

Removed from K-5 libraries

• “Both Can Be True” by Jules Machias

• “Michelangelo (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists)” by Mike Venzia

Removed from K-5, Parent consent for 6-8, No restriction for 9-12

• “Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany Jackson

• “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros

Removed from K-8, Parent consent for 9-12

• “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed

• “Damsel” by Elana Arnold

• “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins

• “Impulse” by Ellen Hopkins

• “Flowers in the Attic” by V.C. Andrews

• “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me” by Mariko Tamaki

Parent consent for 9-12

• “Pet” by Akwaeka Emezi

• “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro

• “13 Reasons Why” by Scott Menchin

Parent consent for 6-12

• “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas

• “The Prince and the Dressmaker” by Jen Wang

Removal denied, accessible for grades 9-12

• “My Jim” by Nancy Rawls

• “Scars” by Cheryl Rainfield

• “Light It Up” by Kekla Magoon

• “Protesting Police Violence in Modern America” by Duchess Harris

• “Race and Policing in America” by Duchess Harris

Removal denied, accessible for K-12

• “Christian the Hugging Lion” by Justin Richardson