Following Gov. Ron DeSantis's incessant attacks on education, books and schools, Florida’s Martin County has followed his lead and banned dozens and dozens of books, including authors James Patterson, Toni Morrison, and Jodi Picoult.
WPTV reports, "This comes as the state puts in new requirements for school librarians to review reading material. And districts must have a process allowing community members to challenge books."
"The removal list includes Picoult’s novel “The Storyteller” about the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who meets an elderly former SS officer. It contains some violent scenes told in flashbacks from World War II and assisted suicide.
“Banning ‘The Storyteller’ is shocking, as it is about the Holocaust and has never been banned before,” Picoult told us in an email.
Greg Sargent notes, "books by Picoult and others that are getting removed, the county’s removal directive cites guidance from Florida’s Department of Education. It directs educators to “err on the side of caution,” urging them to nix material that they wouldn’t be “comfortable reading aloud.”
Right-wing activists are now the de-facto Education Department of Florida.
"99% of the books we have filed challenges on are highly sexually explicit books," said Julie Marshall, who leads Moms For Liberty in Martin County and filed many of the objections.
Jennifer Pippin, a fellow Moms For Liberty activist in Indian River County, said they share lists and work together when they find inappropriate material.
This flies in the face of DeSantis ranting about a Book Ban hoax being perpetrated against his meatball self.
