A special committee advisory board for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools met Tuesday, October 31, to determine the fate of three books and whether they would be banned from school libraries.
One book was banned — “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas — which was argued by critics and committee members as being filled with “adult themes and sexual content.” This work by Maas is a companion novella in her viral “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (ACOTAR) fantasy series. The series is described by the books’ publisher as “seductive, breathtaking fantasy series that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.”
“The Central Media Advisory Committee met this morning to address appeals to three books: ‘Tricks’ by Ellen Hopkins, ‘A Court of Frost and Starlight’ by Sarah J. Maas, and ‘Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)’ by L.C. Rosen,” the committee said in a statement. “As a result of this meeting and much discussion, the committee voted to retain ‘Tricks’ and ‘Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts).’ While the committee voted to remove the physical copies of ‘A Court of Frost and Starlight,’ it supports student access to the digital version of the text through ONE Access, a partnership with the CM Public Library. Parents may opt out if they do not want their students to access the title that way.”
Maas’s books have become a popular target in the book banning movement. According to PEN America, two of Maas’ books were among the “most banned of the 2022-2023 school year: “A Court of Mist and Fury” (at least 27 bans) and “Empire of Storms” (at least 22 bans).
One of the other books brought before the committee — which was ultimately voted in the affirmative to keep on library shelves — was “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)” by L.C. Rosen. Rosen’s book follows Jack Rothman, a queer high school junior in New York City, who decides to write a sex advice column in his friend’s blog. A stalker then starts to harass Jack, attempting to convince him he shouldn’t have sex and blackmailing him.
Rosen took to her personal website to defend her work, as it had become the subject of book bans across the country. She noted 90 percent of men and 60 percent of women had viewed pornography before they were eighteen and talked about the prevalence of heterosexual content in mainstream media.
“There’s plenty of discussion of sex, but any moments when Jack actually has sex are fade to black moments, which is significantly less sex than many straight young adult books which notably haven’t been challenged,” Rosen wrote. “Sex education, even in the most liberal schools in the country, seldom touches on queer sex, which means most queer teens go into their first sexual experiences with only pornography as a guide, which is not what it’s made for and not ideal. I wrote Jack to not only give queer teens a reflection of themselves that was messy and complicated (as most teenagers are) but to give them real advice.”