Stephen King topped PEN America’s list of banned authors again during the 2025-2026 school year, when public schools across the country imposed nearly 12,000 book bans. The restrictions affected more than 7,000 distinct titles and 4,000 authors.
Texas accounted for 8,100 bans, overtaking Florida after 3 years. Florida recorded more than 3,200. PEN America linked the record total to new state censorship laws and the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate books for removal.
The organization warned that broadly written restrictions and political pressure can push school districts to remove more books than the laws require. AI tools can compound that effect by recommending titles for removal because other districts have already banned them.
“Unsure how to comply, districts are removing books en masse, sometimes with the ‘help’ of crude AI tools that only make the problem worse,” said Philomena Polefrone, a senior manager in PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. She said thousands of cases became known through public information requests by Florida Freedom to Read and Texas Freedom to Read, while local communities may be unaware that taxpayer-funded books have disappeared from shelves.
Fiction made up more than 90% of the banned books, including young adult titles and manga. The most frequently banned title was Patricia McCormick’s Sold, a 2006 National Book Award finalist about a teenager from Nepal sold into sexual slavery.
“When reading for pleasure is in decline across all ages, bans on popular and engaging titles are exceptionally tragic,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. “Schools should be doing everything possible to connect kids with reading by introducing them to engaging stories and formats.
