Book News: Efforts To Ban Books On The Rise

The Kids Right to Read Project says it saw a striking increase in the number of books challenged or banned across the U.S. this year. Coordinator Acacia O'Connor told Shelf Awareness last week that the group investigated 53 percent more incidents in 2013 than 2012 — 49 cases in 29 states.

O'Connor added that many of the books challenged were written by minorities. "There are moments," she said, "when a half-dozen or so challenges regarding race or LGBT content hit within a couple weeks, where you just have to ask, 'What is going on out there?'"