Cobb County School District removes four more books from School Libraries 

After a review of books for inappropriate content, Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced the removal of four books from school libraries that fell into this category. These books include:

“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover,
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky,
“Lucky” by Alice Sebold, and
“13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher

The decision to remove these books followed a review of the media collection for sexually explicit material, initiated in January. This review was prompted in part by a similar effort in Marietta City Schools, where Superintendent Grant Rivera recommended the removal of 23 books from the high school library, a decision upheld by the school board.

All four books removed in Cobb were also removed in Marietta, and Cobb had previously removed three other books that overlapped with those targeted in Marietta’s review. Both districts have faced criticism for allegedly restricting access to books, particularly those featuring LGBTQ+ characters. 

Ragsdale defended the removals, emphasizing his duty to protect students from what he deemed as lewd and vulgar content, stating that the district is not banning books but rather ensuring the appropriateness of their content, much like the regulation of R-rated or NC-17-rated movies.

Here are some details about the four removed books:

• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky: This coming-of-age novel explores themes of adolescence, love, sex, drugs, and family dynamics. It was highly acclaimed and adapted into a movie in 2012.
• “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover: A romance novel that delves into the complexities of love, it spent nearly two years on The New York Times Best Sellers list and is set to be adapted into a movie.
• “Lucky” by Alice Sebold: This memoir recounts the author’s experience of being raped as a college freshman in 1981. Distribution of the book ceased in 2021 after the man convicted of the assault was exonerated.
• “13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher: A bestselling novel that inspired a Netflix series, it centers on a 16-year-old girl’s suicide and the cassette tapes she leaves behind explaining her decision.

These removals reflect ongoing debates about the appropriateness of content in school libraries and the balance between safeguarding students and preserving intellectual freedom.