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Canada Schools Ban Watchmen, Saga, Giant Days, Gender Queer & Blankets

Canadian schools ban Watchmen, Saga, Giant Days, Gender Queer and Blankets, as well as Brave New World, 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale

Published Tue, 02 Sep 2025 07:06:05 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Canadian news reports that titles like The Handmaid's Tale, Brave New World, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Perks of Being a Wallflower are to be pulled from library shelves at Edmonton state schools this term, according to a leaked document. A number are labelled sexually explicit, and have been ordered to be removed from library shelves with access from students in kindergarten to Grade 12, or aged 17 to 18. While others have non-explicit sexual content and are just removed from students in Kindergarten through Grade 9, and they may be accessible to students in grades 10 through 12, or 15 to 18, "if the content is developmentally appropriate for the students accessing the material." There is also another list of books that are… fine. And are accessible to students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, "provided the content is developmentally appropriate for the students accessing them."

: Gender Queer, Watchmen, Giant Days

So John Allison's Giant Days is fine for everyone except volume 8, restricted to all. Sandman: Preludes And Nocturnes is banned but Sandman Overture is fine for all ages. Watchmen is banned, as is Saga, Fun Home, Gender Queer and Blankets to anyone under 18 or under.

1984 by George Orwell is restricted to just grades 10-12. Black Bird by Kanoko Salkurakoji volumes 12 and 16 are fine, 15 and 17 are restricted to grade 10 to 12, all the rest are banned. Heartstopper volumes 1-4 are fine, but 5 is restricted.

In a statement to CBC News, Edmonton Public School Board chair Julie Kusiek said there is a list of books that will be removed from schools as a result of the government's ministerial order. Kusiek said the board shares concerns raised by community members and opposed the policy. "As a result of the ministerial order, several excellent books will be removed from our shelves this fall. Division staff worked over the summer to ensure that only books that directly met the criteria in the ministerial order were added to the division's removal list."

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the government is aware of the EPSB list banning books for students in K-12 and will be reviewing it. "We have asked Edmonton Public to clarify why these books were selected to be pulled, and we will work with them to ensure the standards are accurately implemented. We did not provide this list to EPSB," the statement read.

Laura Winton, a former president of the Library Association of Alberta, says I'm dismayed and disappointed. I'm not at all surprised. The intention of this ministerial order was to remove materials from school libraries, and that's exactly what it's doing. What specific book-banning lists are going to do is limit the amount of material that's available to students, limit the amount of topics that can be discussed and just create a culture of fear in the classroom." Here are the comic books that are affected by the order, and for what reason:

Materials with explicit sexual content: Following a division review process, the following books have been identified as containing explicit sexual content. These materials are to be removed from all libraries accessible to students in Kindergarten through Grade 12.

Berserk. Volume 3 Kentarō Miura
Black bird. 1 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 10 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 11 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 13 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 14 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 18 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 2 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 3. Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 4 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 5 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 6 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 7 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 8 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 9 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Blankets Craig Thompson
Fun Home Alison Bechdel
Gender Queer Maia Kobabe
Giant Days, Volume 8 John Allison
Preacher Garth Ennis
Preacher Book 2 Garth Ennis
Preacher Book 3 Garth Ennis
Preacher Book 4 Garth Ennis
Saga. Volume eight Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume five Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume four Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume nine Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume one Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume seven Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume six Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume three Brian K. Vaughan
Saga. Volume two Brian K. Vaughan
Sandman, The : preludes & nocturnes Neil Gaiman
Trigun Maximum Vol. 12 Yasuhiro Nightow
Watchmen Alan Moore Novel

Materials with non-explicit sexual content: Following a division review process, the following books have been identified as containing non-explicit sexual content. These materials are to be removed from all libraries accessible to students in Kindergarten through Grade 9. They may be accessible to students in grades 10 through 12 if the content is developmentally appropriate for the students accessing the material.

Angel sanctuary. Vol. 17 Kaori Yuki
Angel sanctuary. Vol. 18 Kaori Yuki
Angel sanctuary. Vol. 19 Kaori Yuki
Angel sanctuary. Vol. 20 Kaori Yuki
Best laid plans, The Cameron Lund Novel
Black bird. 15 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Black bird. 17 Kanoko Sakurakoji
Heartstopper. Volume 5 Alice Oseman
In the End Erin M. Blakemore
Sin City Vol. 5 Family values Frank Miller

Materials with non-sexual content: These books were part of an initial review; however, they were determined to contain non-sexual content. These materials may be accessible to students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, provided the content is developmentally appropriate for the students accessing them.