COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The growing list of books banned from Cobb County Schools just got longer after Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said that six more were removed for "sexually explicit and graphic content."
The total number of books now banned in Cobb public schools is now up to 32. Back on Sept. 19, six books were banned in an update to the district's ongoing book review process to remove and not provide materials in media centers that are determined to have lewd, vulgar or sexually explicit content, according to a release.
And on Thursday, Ragsdale shared that six more books were being pulled. The books are:
- Summer of Owen Todd
- More Happy Than Not
- This Book Is Gay
- We Know It Was You
- The Sun and Her Flowers
- City of Saints and Thieves
The latest list of literature will join 26 other books previously removed and no longer accessible in any Cobb County school. Those books are:
- Laid
- Crank
- Tricks
- Push
- Milk and Honey
- It Starts with Us
- The Infinite Moment of Us
- Casual Vacancy
- Identical
- Boys Aren't Blue
- Juliet Takes a Breath
- Monday's Not Coming
- City of Thieves
- Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl
- Flamer
- Blankets
- It Ends with Us
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Lucky
- Thirteen Reasons Why
- A Court of Wings and Ruin
- A Court of Thorns and Roses
- A Court of Mist and Fury
- A Court of Frost and Starlight
- A Court of Silver Flames
- Iron Fire
Ragsdale said he encourages parents to seek the book out for themselves either online or at a local library to decide if it's something they want their child to read at home.
"No matter your decision, our Board has and continues to hold me accountable to leading the teaching of your children while you choose how to raise your family," Ragsdale said in a statement.
Ragsdale also went on to argue to those against pulling the books out of the school system that "this is a grand total of thirty-two books out of more than a million," explaining that he believes this represents just a small fraction of the literature that is out there to read.
The superintendent also said in part:
"As I have repeatedly stated, I choose to believe those wanting children to have unrestricted access to these materials simply have not read them and have no idea what is contained in them. As I have repeatedly asked – before criticizing the removal, please read these works. On more than one occasion, I’ve had someone who said, ‘I’m against banning books,’ read one of the books we are removing, then say, ‘I had no idea what was in that book.’ If you do read these books and afterward you decide children should be given unrestricted access to lewd, vulgar, or sexually explicit language, well, you are entitled to that opinion. But please make it an INFORMED opinion."
Ragsdale will speak at a board meeting Thursday night at 7 p.m., where there will also be public comment available for residents and parents. Public comment sign-up information can be found here.
