rex costume and fill the little free libraries in my community with diverse books until the cows come home,” she said.Īs some parents use school board meetings as places to spar over what’s appropriate to expose children to, Hart says she sees people who are not looking at their kids’ social media feeds. I will fight the good fight, I will put on my inflatable T. “I refuse to give in, I refuse to surrender. She writes her books from a small studio behind her house near Portland, Oregon, and teaches other people to write young adult books.
Hart’s life is filled with young adult fiction. “I know it’s going to get banned,” Hart says. In her latest book, “Daisy Woodworm Changes the World,” one of the main characters has two moms. Retired school librarians are also organizing - and authors such as Hart are determined to keep writing the stories that they say simply didn’t exist when they were young. Teens and young adults have also protested and called out the generational gap when it comes to talking about gender identity and the restrictive policies that ban books they say are important. In states including Texas and Washington, young people are forming banned book clubs. As more books are being challenged, and states are passing laws to make the challenging of books easier, a growing group of educators, parents and students is fighting back.
