Posted on Feb 13, 2022
A Kansas City YA author worries what kids lose when books — like his own — get banned
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In his novels, Kansas City author Adib Khorram shows aspects of his life that were "erased" from his own high school curricula. His main characters are Iranian, or gay, or both; they sing in boy bands and play soccer. Except now his work is being targeted by book-banning campaigns.
A Kansas City YA author worries what kids lose when books — like his own — get banned
Posted from kcur.org
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1st Amendment
Iran
LGBTQ+
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Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Kansas City author Adib Khorram tries not to obsessively monitor where his books have been banned.
"I don't think it's much of a badge of honor," he says. "And I tend to mostly pay attention to stuff that's closer to home, where I can be writing to school boards or reps or whatever."
But last week, a friend casually asked which of his books had been challenged. After all, Khorram's novels for young adults get into the exact subjects that are being targeted by recent book-banning campaigns: sexuality and race.
Khorram already knew that his 2020 YA novel, "Darius The Great Deserves Better," got added to a list of hundreds of titles under investigation by Texas state Rep. Matt Krause.
In October, the Republican lawmaker sent a 16-page spreadsheet to the Texas Education Agency with a "preliminary" request for a detailed inventory of any titles on school premises. Krause noted that his interest in the books related to House Bill 3979, a new Texas law that bans educational materials that might provoke "discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex."...
..."Kansas City author Adib Khorram tries not to obsessively monitor where his books have been banned.
"I don't think it's much of a badge of honor," he says. "And I tend to mostly pay attention to stuff that's closer to home, where I can be writing to school boards or reps or whatever."
But last week, a friend casually asked which of his books had been challenged. After all, Khorram's novels for young adults get into the exact subjects that are being targeted by recent book-banning campaigns: sexuality and race.
Khorram already knew that his 2020 YA novel, "Darius The Great Deserves Better," got added to a list of hundreds of titles under investigation by Texas state Rep. Matt Krause.
In October, the Republican lawmaker sent a 16-page spreadsheet to the Texas Education Agency with a "preliminary" request for a detailed inventory of any titles on school premises. Krause noted that his interest in the books related to House Bill 3979, a new Texas law that bans educational materials that might provoke "discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex."...
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