Dozens of students, parents and teachers spoke out against district-wide book bans at a protest held outside the Brevard County School Board meeting Tuesday, February 6.
Almost thirty books are currently being reviewed after being challenged in the district, including “A Court of Thorns and Roses” at last night's meeting.
Outside the meeting, students like Brevard senior Anjani Sharma voiced concerns over the proposed bans. She said book bans are detrimental to student learning.
“I know that in books these authors highlight their own lives but also lives of others that I would never be able to understand unless I read that," said Sharma.
Eastern Florida State College junior Rosalina Rodriguez said she’s upset many of the banned books feature LGBTQ+ characters and themes.
“I know definitely for me, I started out reading some books about those kinds of things and that really helped me with who I am," said Rodriguez.
After the hour-long protest, the students continued to speak out during public comment.
But at the end of the meeting the board still decided to remove the book by a vote of four to one.
Board member Matt Susin expressed his concerns over some of the sex scenes in the book along with the community’s responses to the book bans.
“One week we have a group of people that come in and yell at us, that we didn’t ban a book. And then the very next week we have a group of people that say you banned a book. And it’s just this see-saw," said Susin.
However, he said he looks forward to doing the important work of looking at books that have been challenged each meeting.
Below is a list of books being reviewed in the county.
Title and Author of Books for Formal Reconsideration
Damsel by E.K. Arnold- Pending
Forever by J Blume- Pending
Not my Problem by C Smyth- Pending
Red Hood by E Arnold- Pending
This One Summer by M. Tamaki- Pending
Infandous by E Arnold- Pending
The Haters by J Andrews- Pending
The Nowhere Girls by A Reed- Pending
A Court of Silver Flames by S. Maas- Pending
Breathless by J Niven- Pending
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by M. Lo- Pending
The Infinite Moment of Us by L Myracle- Pending
A Court of Thorns and Roses by S. Maas- 1/26/2024, 1:00pm
A Court of Wings and Ruin by S. Maas- Pending
A Court of Frost and Starlight by S. Maas- Pending
Tilt by E. Hopkins- Pending
Tricks by E. Hopkins- Pending
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez- Pending
Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres- Pending
Beautiful by Amy Reed- Pending
People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins- Pending
Living Dead Girls by Elizabeth Scott- Pending
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky- Pending
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George Johnson- Pending
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah Maas- Pending
Bible Stories for Little Angels by Sarah J. Dodd- Pending
The Action Bible God's Redemptive Story by Sergio Cariello- Pending
Not on Formal List
Allegedly (Jackson)
House of Earth and Blood (Maas)
What Girls are Made Of (Arnold)
