THE FUSE

Something noteworthy about the annual lists from the American Library Association (ALA) and PEN America that highlight the most challenged and banned book titles from the previous year is this: those lists may look similar year to year, but you’ll notice that there are titles that show up one year and never show up again, or they fall down the list. These tend to be newer titles published in the 2020s, as opposed to the older titles, published 20 or more years ago. There are two reasons for this.