Book covers for Burned, Crank, Fallout, Glass, Smoke, Tilt, Triangles, Tricks

Happy Birthday, Ellen Hopkins!

Author Ellen Hopkins celebrates her birthday today. A staunch fighter against censorship, and with more individual titles challenged than any other author in 2020, Ellen Hopkins is no stranger to challenges or bans to her books. Hopkins uses a unique, lyrical format to tell stories that reach us in our souls despite their uncomfortable topics that continue to be banned as recently as March of 2022.

authors Ellen Hopkins, Gayle Pitman, and e.E. Charlton-Trujillo speak about being disinvited from schools

Author, Please Come! Nevermind. Please Don’t.

Setting aside the fact that it’s just rude, rescinding an author’s invitation to speak because the content of their book is controversial is, in fact, censorship. The physical book may not be off the shelf, but the author’s message is still being stifled. One person is making a choice for the entire school community, that what this author has to say is not of value.