Suburban school districts in St. Louis area more likely to ban books under new law – By Blythe Bernhard (St Louis Post-Dispatch) / Sept 24, 2022
ST. LOUIS — The 97 books banned in schools across St. Louis this fall cover topics like anatomy, photography and the Holocaust. There are books that are also popular TV series, including “Game of Thrones,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Walking Dead” and “Watchmen.”
And as life imitates art, Kirkwood School District banned a comic book adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984,” the cautionary tale about government mind control.
A new state law banning “explicit sexual material” — defined as any visual depiction of sex acts or genitalia, with exceptions for artistic or scientific significance — went into effect at the end of August and applies to both public and private schools.
Teachers and librarians have scoured their book lists for any applicable content at the direction of lawyers. But interpretation of the law varies by geography, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of public records…
