HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — The school-based decision to keep the book “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins on the shelves of the Newsome High School media center has been appealed and will be discussed at a Wednesday meeting, according to a Hillsborough County Public Schools news release.
The District Reconsideration Committee Meeting takes place 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Public Schools Instructional Service Center at 2920 N. 40th Street in Tampa. No public comment will be allowed during the meeting.
The book is about 16-year-old girl twins whose father is a district court judge and mother is a politician running for U.S. Congress. The discusses sexual abuse, drug use and eating disorders.
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Last fall, the district received the HCPS Objection to the use of Specific Material Form objecting to the book “Identical” being available at the Lithia high school, Tanya Arja, chief of communications, told Patch.
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The school-based committee, which met in November to discuss the title, voted to keep the book at the school.
Now, “Identical” is being reconsidered for removal as “the individual that originally challenged the book then appealed that decision,” Arja said. “So now it goes to the district review committee.”
Hopkins wrote three of the books most frequently bannedin America during the 2022-23 school year, “Tricks,” Crank” and “Identical,” according to the advocacy group PEN America.
She’s one of the most banned authors in the country with her books banned 89 times in 20 districts last year, WXXI News reported.
“They act like they’re concerned for the kids, but they’re not,” Hopkins told The Daily Beast. “By saying, ‘Books on LGBTQ content can’t be there,’ they’re not only saying these kids don’t count. They’re saying they shouldn’t exist.”
She added, “I’m not there to hurt kids. I’m there to help them. I’m there to help them make better choices, better decisions. And that’s my whole point to writing.”
Last year, there were more than 1,400 book ban cases in Florida school districts, which made up more than 40 percent of all book challenges in the U.S., PEN America said.
Just one book, “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson, was banned in Hillsborough County Schools during the last school year.
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