A version of this article was first published on Oct. 19, 2023. It has been updated with new information.

The Des Moines Register found that schools across Iowa pulled 3,385 books from shelves last fall, including Captain Underpants, the Holocaust memoir Maus, dozens of classics, and books written for young readers – more bans than PEN America counted in the entire country in the previous school year.

The books counted in a survey of schools by The Des Moines Register were pulled to comply with a new state law and reflect a growing national trend, as documented in PEN America’s Banned in the USA research. In the 2022-2023 school year, PEN America counted 3,362 instances of individual books banned. Only six of those were in Iowa. Book bans have accelerated in the 2023-2024 school year, with 4,000 instances of book bans in the first half of this school year—more than all of last school year as a whole, and not yet counting Iowa.

The newspaper sent open records requests to all 325 school districts in Iowa asking which books had been removed to comply with a new state law. An initial survey in October 2023 found that 450 books were pulled at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. The full tally is now far higher. The books were pulled before a federal judge issued an injunction last December after teachers, families, and publishers sued. 

The full list includes classics like 1984 and To Kill a Mockingbird, the Newbery Medal winner The Giver, and the DVD Schindler’s List. The most frequently banned books in Iowa also reflect national trends were Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Looking for Alaska, by John Green, Sold by Patricia McCormick, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Crank and Identical by Ellen Hopkins, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. 

The newspaper reported that after the federal injunction, 1,295 of the books were returned to shelves, leaving more than 2,000 books inaccessible to students. In August, schools in Urbandale, Iowa, were ordered to remove a list of nearly 400 titles if found in district schools and classrooms. After public pressure including an open letter from PEN America, the district dropped its objections to many of the titles and released a new list of 65 books, according to documents obtained by the Iowa anti-censorship group Annie’s Foundation. The list it provided to The Des Moines Register in 2024 indicates those books have been reshelved.

Why Are Books Banned in Iowa?

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 496 into law in May 2023. The law has numerous provisions, based on a requirement that schools adopt what it calls an “age appropriate, multicultural and gender-fair approach” by schools and school districts. It includes a “Don’t Say Gay” provision, modeled off Florida’s 2022 law.

List of Books Banned in Iowa

Classic books banned in Iowa schools

  • 1984 and Animal Farm, by George Orwell
  • Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt
  • As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
  • Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Sula, by Toni Morrison
  • Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
  • The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
  • Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
  • Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

Graphic novels and books for young readers banned in Iowa Schools

  • Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
  • Captain Underpants series, by Dav Pilkey
  • Flamer, by Mike Curato
  • The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan
  • The Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park
  • New Kid and Class Act, by Jerry Craft
  • The Cardboard Kingdom, by Chad Sell 
  • The Giver, by Lois Lowry
  • The Magic Fish, by Trung Le Nguyen 
  • Stamped (for Kids), by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

Picture books banned in Iowa schools

  • Milo Imagines the World, by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson
  • Pink Is for Boys, by Robb Pearlman
  • Prince and Knight, by Daniel Haack
  • This Day in June, by Gayle E. Pitman
  • The Family Book, by Todd Parr
  • When Aidan Became a Brother, by Kyle Lukoff

Young Adult books banned in Iowa schools

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson
  • The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
  • Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon
  • Forever, by Judy Blume
  • The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
  • The Infinite Moment of Us, by Lauren Myracle
  • An Abundance of Katherines, The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
  • The Moon Within, by Aida Salazar
  • Ordinary Hazards, by Nikki Grimes
  • Out of Darkness, Ashley Hope Pérez
  • The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
  • Speak and Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han
  • The Sun Is Also a Star, by Nicola Yoon
  • Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
  • This Book Is Gay, Juno Dawson
  • Too Bright to See, Kyle Lukoff
  • Two Boys Kissing, David Levithan
  • Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer
  • What If It’s Us, by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera
  • The Weight of Blood, Tiffany D. Jackson
  • We’ll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han

Other well-known books banned in Iowa schools

  • American Gods and Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
  • 11/22/63, Bag of Bones, Black House, Carrie, Cell, Christine, Doctor Sleep, Dolores Claiborne, Dreamcatcher, Four Past Midnight, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Green Mile, Gwendy’s Final Task, Hearts in Atlantis, If It Bleeds, The Institute, It, Joyland, Just After Sunset, The Long Walk, Pet Sematary, The Shining, Skeleton Crew, The Stand, Billy Summers, The Talisman, Under the Dome, by Stephen King
  • Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger
  • The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
  • Not That Bad, by Roxane Gay
  • The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
  • Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
  • Where the Crawdad Sings, by Delia Owens
  • Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

See The Des Moines’ Register’s full database of books banned in Iowa.