Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, IDW | Tagged: banned, Blankets, Craig Thompson, utah

Craig Thompson's Blankets Now Banned From Utah State Schools

Utah has ordered that schools remove thirteen books from classrooms and libraries, including the graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson

Published Thu, 15 Aug 2024 08:57:08 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Utah bans graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson, alongside 12 other titles, citing "Objective Sensitive Material."
New Utah law prioritizes protecting children from "illicit pornography," leading to a statewide book removal policy.
Critics warn banning books often targets BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors, limiting diverse representation in schools.
Blankets faced previous bans in Missouri, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Virginia, and other states over recent years.

The Utah State Board of Education has ordered that schools remove thirteen books from classrooms and libraries, including the graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson because they fell foul of "Objective Sensitive Material criteria" on the 2nd of August. The books being banned are as follows:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
What Girls Are Made of by Elana K. Arnold
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
Forever by Judy Blume
Tilt by Ellen Hopkins
Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The list was made to comply with a new state law that took effect in July that requires local education agencies, including school boards and the governing board of charter schools, to prioritize "protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations." The new law does not allow for any work to be viewed in context. This covers any descriptions of sex or masturbation are banned, as are any books with LGBTQ content that opponents may claim is sexual. When any book is removed by three school districts, it must then be removed from all school library shelves statewide.

Blankets is an autobiographical graphic novel by Craig Thompson, published over twenty years ago 2003 by Top Shelf Productions, now thorough IDW Publishing. A coming-of-age autobiography, Blankets tells the story of Thompson's childhood in an Evangelical Christian family, his first love, and his early adulthood. Time Magazine called it the best comic of 2003 and it was eighth on its best comics of the decade list.

Salt Lake City news station FOX 13 reported Davina Sauthoff, the Utah State Board of Education's library media specialist saying "As far as the state board is concerned, we follow the law, we are facilitating what the law asks us to do. I know there's different perceptions and viewpoints out there, but my goal is to help LEAs implement the law in the best way. Once I've done that, I want to continue to support school libraries and librarians who serve our students in developing literacy and a love of reading. And so that's where I focus. I try not to get into the nitty-gritty of the camps and different viewpoints, I want to support librarians who serve our students."

And Quinn Smith with the Salt Lake City Public Library stated "So many of these books that are being challenged or removed are by BIPOC authors or are showing off the LGBTQIA+ experience. And so when you take those out of schools, you're limiting what children can see, whether that's having that empathetic experience or seeing themselves reflected, and that can be harmful either way and it is a slippery slope, like to start seeing what else is going to be removed in the future."

In October 2006, a resident of Marshall, Missouri, saw Blankets removed from the city's public library, but that was reversed in 2007.

Blankets was then later banned, as part of a new censorship move, from Libraries and Classrooms in Florida Clay County School District in 2022, Missouri's Independence School District in October 2022, in Texas Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in December 2022, Florida St. John's County School District in January 2023, Wisconsin's School District of Somerset and Virginia's Spotsylvania County Public School, in February 2023, Missouri Nixa Public Schools in April 2023, South Carolina Horry County Schools in June 2023.

The Marietta City School Board in Georgia banned Blankets in January this year, along with 24 other books.

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