Authors Presentation at California Elementary School Canceled Over Content Deemed Unsuitable | Contra Costa Herald
Two authors scheduled to speak to 4- to 9-year-old students at Country Club Elementary School in the San Ramo Valley (CA) Unified School District had their visit canceled at the last minute, because “parts of the presentation were not suited to” the preK–3rd grade students, according to a letter dated October 29 from Superintendent CJ Cammack.

Authors Joanna How and Caroline Kusin Pritchard were going to speak about their picture book about book banning, The Day the Books Disappeared. According to the authors, when they arrived, the principal met with them in an office and told them to “only talk about the book” and “not to speak about book bans or the types of books being banned, specifically books with queer representation.”

According to the superintendent, “district staff reached out to the organization we partner with on author visits to share concerns and request that the presentation be adjusted for a younger audience before the scheduled visit to Country Club. When no response was received, staff respectfully made the same request to the authors when they arrived on campus. The authors declined to modify their presentation to align with our requests and chose to leave without presenting.”

However, the authors claim they “were not allowed to present.”

Maryland’s School Board Reverses County’s Book Ban | The Baltimore Banner
Maryland’s school board is reversing Harford County’s removal of a book from public school libraries—the first time the state has intervened in a local decision about what’s appropriate for students to read. The decision comes after the Harford County school board banned the young adult graphic novel Flamer by Mike Curato last summer.

That action sparked backlash among community members who were upset that a book was banned—and that the decision happened behind closed doors. Some argued the removal defied the state’s Freedom to Read Act.

The local board overruled the superintendent and a review committee who had decided to keep Flamer in middle and high school libraries.

Idaho Book Censorship Law Bothers Ninth Circuit
An Idaho law restricting what materials students can access in schools and libraries drew scrutiny at the Ninth Circuit as a group of schools urged the court to block the law. The schools say the state’s restrictions on “harmful" materials violate their First Amendment rights.

Utah Removes 19th Book from School Libraries Statewide | KSL
The Utah State Board of Education removed the 19th book from school libraries across the state when Thirteen Reasons Why was pulled from Nebo, Tooele, and Washington County school districts, triggering its statewide removal.

Transgender Book Ban Stalls in Tennessee County | Fox17
The Sumner County, TN, library board failed to pass a ban on transgender books across the county this week

Margaret Atwood: ‘It is the scariest of times’ | The Guardian
The author talks about defying Trump, banned books—and her score-settling memoir.