Award-winning author Stephen King is speaking out against Utah's book banning practices.
On July 6, Stephen King's novella collection, "Different Seasons," joined Utah’s official banned book list for its “objective sensitive material.” King posted his shock and frustration over the ban on X on July 14, 2026.
"What's wrong with these people?" King said on X.
The collections include the source materials for the critically acclaimed films "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand By Me." King claims these stories are readable for teens due to their themes surrounding friendship and courage.
Because of the latest ban, King is joining certain authors who have repeated appearances on the list, including Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins, Margaret Atwood and Sarah J. Maas. Arnold, Hopkins and Atwood are known for not shying away from difficult and sensitive subject matter, as opposed to King's famous horror literature and Maas’ popularity in the 'Romantasy' genre. ('Romantasy' is an online term combining the romance and fantasy genres, typically associated with BookTok).
Author Jodi Picoult has joined Arnold, Hopkins and Maas in suing the state of Utah for infringing on their right to free speech.
A total of 36 books are banned statewide for featuring what local education agencies (or LEAs) deem pornographic and indecent. According to Utah legislation, LEAs are public school districts, charter schools and the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
However, heated conversations among booksellers, libraries and online spaces are circulating around how ethical these bans really are.
Each statewide book ban in Utah is currently the result of amendments made to the “Sensitive Materials in Schools” Act in 2024. Rep. Ken Ivory, R-Salt Lake, and Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Davis, Salt Lake, sponsored HB29. Gov. Spencer Cox, R-Utah signed the bill into law on March 18, 2024.
According to this law, “A public school or an LEA may not: adopt, use, distribute, provide access to, or maintain in the school setting … or permit a speaker or presenter in the school setting to display or distribute sensitive materials.”
In an attempt to protect students from illicit pornography, the bill classifies flagged content as objective or subjective sensitive material. Both young adult and adult novels are on the ban list, featuring themes surrounding sexual activity, abuse, substance use and profanity.
“Each public school and each LEA shall prioritize protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography over other considerations in evaluating instructional material,” HB29 states.
If a book is deemed pornographic by at least 3 school districts or 2 school districts and 5 charter schools during a sensitive materials review, it is automatically banned from all Utah schools.
“Book banning and thought banning has deep roots and people get very worked up about it,” Anne Holman, a local bookshop owner, said. “We’ve certainly seen a lot of book banning over the years. Unfortunately, it’s an action that never goes away.”
In 2021, Gov. Cox, R-Utah made a statement against book banning practices.
“Any student of history knows that banning books never ends up well,” Cox said.
However, Holman discussed her distrust with Utah’s legislation handling freedom of speech in literary spaces. Holman is a co-owner of the King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City.
“What I’ve come to understand though, at the ripe old age of sixty-five, is that people are going to find something to not like about any book,” Holman said. “If we give them the tools and the voice to ban it, they will do it.”
Holman shared that her first experience with book banning was her young perplexity at “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Outsiders.”
According to the nonprofit, Reading Partners, “Charlotte’s Web” was temporarily banned in Kansas on religious grounds. “The Outsiders” is listed as #38 on the American Library Association's Top 100 Most Challenged Books: 1990-1999 list. The S.E. Hinton book contains depictions of gang violence, smoking, drinking and profanity.
Even though banned books are only kept out of schools, Orem Public Library's community services director, Bryce Merrill, discussed how the practice itself has been associated with philosophical debates surrounding free speech and free exchange of information.
“I think we’re all watching closely. I feel most people in these conversations do have the best interests of our residents in mind,” Merrill said.
Merrill also discussed the existing tensions between Utah readers and Utah legislators. Though he empathizes with the legislation’s intent, Merrill emphasized that public libraries are separated and protected from book banning.
“Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment,” the American Library Association states in the Library Bill of Rights.
However, Holman explained that freely providing information and enlightenment does not mean that libraries and bookshops are distributing pornographic books to their readers. Rather, there is an individualized attitude surrounding how materials are exchanged — especially amongst minors.
“As a parent, as a teacher, as a librarian: you have to wade through the stuff that’s not right for your readers and find the good stuff,” Holman said. “I think any librarian worth their salt, which is probably most librarians, isn’t going to give explicit, sexually explicit or horror novels to a fifth grader.”
Wading through the “good and bad stuff” is becoming an increased social media topic among influencers and parents. Social media users have been expressing their concerns and perspectives on explicit content becoming culturally normalized through the social media phenomenon, "BookTok." This TikTok craze has also contributed to an increase of on-screen adaptations of popular “spicy” reads on streaming platforms, such as Amazon Prime and Netflix.
The Library Bill of Rights states that “Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”
Due to Utah’s prominent conservative culture, Holman voiced her suspicions that the “Sensitive Materials in Schools” Act allegedly censors LGBTQIA+ subject matter. 22 of the 36 banned books feature LGBTQIA+ characters, themes and subject matter. However, none of the bans explicitly state that these books’ removals are due to LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
“We don’t want individuals who see this [book banning] as an encroachment to feel like they don’t have the ability to talk to their local library staff or to advocate to their elected officials,” Merrill said. “There’s maybe a lack of transparency, or heavy accusations of a ‘One size fits all ban’ or something like that.”
While discussing her distrust in Utah legislation surrounding literature, Holman shared how she had canceled a pre-signing event with the Governor after a particularly contentious press conference.
“That was a hard week,” Holman said. “We’ll have the book on the shelf. You can buy any book you want from us whenever you want from us. But we’re not gonna get more involved with him.”
Though bookstores may be at liberty to make these kinds of executive decisions to protest legislation, public libraries are still considered government based establishments. However, that does not mean that they are at the beck and call of censorship laws.
Merrill discussed how public libraries are constantly consulting with advisory boards, city councils, the Utah State Library, the Public Library Association and the American Library Association.
The Orem Public Library also conducts various spotlight events, including an annual focus on banned books.
“As a public library, we’re not on the hill on a daily basis. We can advocate. We can go through our groups and ask for clarity or better definitions,” Merrill said. “It’s not as exciting as maybe the traditional route of advocacy, but what I think helps actually move us toward real solutions.”
The Orem Public Library and the Provo City Library at Academy Square have both of Stephen King's banned books in their available catalogues. King also posted a response to his book "Bag of Bones" being banned in March, 2026 on Threads. In the post, he urges students to support local public libraries in light of the previous ban.