King on Banned Book: 'What's Wrong With These People?'
Newser • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Utah has banned Stephen King's 1982 collection Different Seasons from public school libraries after four school districts voted to remove it, triggering a statewide ban under state law regarding "objective sensitive material."
- Different Seasons includes the novellas that inspired the films The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, both widely acclaimed and popular.
- The ban follows a pattern of book restrictions in Utah and comes amid an ongoing ACLU lawsuit challenging the state's book bans as violations of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
- Stephen King, previously named the most banned author in US schools by PEN America, criticized the ban on social media, highlighting the stories' themes of friendship and courage and their suitability for teens.
- Other banned titles in Utah include The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, reflecting a broader trend of removing books deemed inappropriate for minors.
