Utah passed one of the strictest bills related to books in public schools in 2024. House Bill 29 (HB 29) allows parents to challenge books they deem “sensitive material,” and it also outright bans books from all public schools in the state if those books have been deemed “objective sensitive material” or “pornographic” per state code in at least three public school districts or two public school districts and five charter schools statewide. The bill took effect on July 1, 2024, and it started with 13 titles.

The bill is retroactive, meaning titles that met the state’s guidelines before the bill’s start date were included on the list. Per HB 29, any time a public or charter school removes a book deemed “sensitive material,” they must notify the State Board of Education. If that book meets the removal threshold, all schools will be notified and expected to dispose of it.

Of the 44 books now prohibited in Utah public schools, 33 are written by women. The full list of banned titles is as follows:

• Blankets by Craig Thompson (2003)
• A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas (2018)
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (2016)
• A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (2021)
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (2015)
• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (2017)
• Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (2016)
• Fallout by Ellen Hopkins (2010)
• Forever by Judy Blume (1975)
• Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2014)
• Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood (2003)
• Tilt by Ellen Hopkins (2012)
• What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold (2017)
• Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (2008)
• Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (2018)
• Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (2019)
• Tricks by Ellen Hopkins (2009)
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (2006)
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (2007)
• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (1995)
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (2007)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
• Bag of Bones by Stephen King (1998)
• Breathless by Jennifer Niven (2020)
• The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley (2014)
• The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Renee Nault (2019)
• Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold (2020)
• Looking for Alaska by John Green (2005)
• Life Is Funny by E.R. Frank (2002)
• The Haters by Jesse Andrews (2016)
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (1970)
• People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins (2018)
• A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard (2011)
• A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin (1998)
• Lucky by Alice Sebold (1999)
• Different Seasons by Stephen King (1982)
• Push by Sapphire (1996)
• House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (2020)
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins (2008)
• Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco (2021)
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (2012)
• Perfect by Ellen Hopkins (2011)
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout (2019)
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (2020)

The average publication date of the titles banned by the state of Utah is now 2009–that’s 17 years ago, or the age of a high school senior. Most of these books are not new. Many of the books removed were likely on shelves when the people banning them were themselves students. This new batch of seven titles is among the newest to be removed so far, though the most recently published title is still five years old.

What is important to understand about the law is that, despite claims this is about “local control,” schools in the state are forced to follow the decisions made in other districts. There are 42 public school districts in Utah, but only nine districts have accounted for the book bans. Among those, Davis has been included in 42 of the bans, and Washington in 31. Jordan School District is responsible for 22–one reason this list is growing is that this district is now “catching up” with their records–while Tooele has accounted for 17. In other words, two school districts in the whole state account for the vast majority of bans. Looking specifically at the seven new banned titles, they primarily came from three school districts: Davis, Jordan, and Tooele.

Davis School District was recently in the news for a potential breach of information, after book banning advocate Brooke Stephens–one of the leaders behind the biased book review websites RatedBooks and the National Book Rating Index–was given access to the school library system. This week, Davis was also informed by the state that they don’t need to discuss book ban appeals publicly. Less transparency means more opportunity to censor materials.

We’re going to continue to see more books added to this list in Utah. The state is working backward from the date the law was implemented. These titles are not the only books being banned in the state. Individual school districts are allowed to ban any books they deem inappropriate–which, of course, helps add more titles to the state list as only three districts need to remove a book before the book must be removed everywhere.

Utah is not the only state with such a book list. South Carolina also retains a sanctioned list of books that must be removed in every public school district. Their list contains 21 titles, making them the most censorious state when it comes to state-sanctioned book bans. There is a pending lawsuit in that state as well, brought by the ACLU on behalf of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians and three public school students under 18. South Carolina has not added any books to their banned list since May 2025.

None of these laws applies to private or homeschool institutions. That’s intentional.

Clearly, the lawsuit filed against HB 29 isn’t deterring the most important work in Utah’s state education system: removing books that have been on shelves for decades. If anything, it has accelerated the book bans since January this year.