Stephen King responds to his books being banned in Utah public schools
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Stephen King responded to his book "Different Seasons" being banned in Utah schools,
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Stephen King responds to his books being banned in Utah public schools
In early July, bestselling horror author Stephen King had his second title, “Different Seasons,” added to an ever-growing list of books banned in all Utah public schools.
And while King said he doesn’t usually “respond to queries about book banning,” he believes “this case is a little different.”
In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, King wrote:
“The thing is this: I get letters from teenagers all the time that say things like, ‘I wasn’t a reader until I picked this book up.’ It’s true of ‘The Stand’ and ‘Pet Sematary,’ but even more true of ‘Different Seasons.’”
“Different Seasons” is a collection of four short novellas tied together through various seasons. Three of the four — “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” “Apt Pupil” and “The Body” —inspired film adaptations.
“Most of them have seen ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ and teens like a story about an innocent man escaping jail. ‘The Body,’ made into the movie ‘Stand By Me,’ is even more relatable to teens,” King wrote. “All I’m saying is that if the book is in high school libraries, some bored teenager might pick it up and find out how good stories can be.”
Under a 2024 Utah law, if three school districts, or two districts and five charters, remove the same book for containing “objective sensitive material,” all public schools in the state must remove the book.
This law doesn’t apply to private schools or businesses.
“First and foremost, the book wasn’t banned. I assume it’s still in bookstores and many public libraries, because free expression is part of the American ethic,” King wrote.
Some local independent bookstores are giving out free copies of books on Utah’s banned list.
“I hope this will be instrumental in the various Utah school boards changing their minds about ‘Different Seasons,’” King wrote in his statement.
King is the most banned author in U.S. schools, according to a report from PEN America, with 87 of his works being censored 206 times during the last school year.
Another of King’s books, “Bag of Bones,” was the 23rd book banned in Utah public schools. On the Utah list, his work is accompanied by titles from Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, John Green, Toni Morrison and Ellen Hopkins, among others.
On the social media platform X, following the ban of “Different Seasons,” King wrote: “What’s wrong with these people?”
At the end of his written statement shared with The Tribune, King said, “Ordinarily I say ‘Go to a library or bookstore and find out what the suits don’t want you to read,’ but this case is a little different.”
This story was produced by The Salt Lake Tribune and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
