Books banned in Kentucky schools

All 6 titles, most widely removed first

1. 1
   City of Thieves

   Alex London · 1 district · removed
   Amazon→
2. 2
   I'll Give You the Sun

   Jandy Nelson · 1 district · removed · latest Oct 2023
   Amazon→
3. 3
   King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold)

   Kacen Callender · 1 district · removed
   Amazon→
4. 4
   The Cardboard Kingdom

   Chad Sell · 1 district · removed · latest Oct 2023
   Amazon→
5. 5
   The Parker Inheritance

   Varian Johnson · 1 district · removed · latest Oct 2023
   Amazon→
6. 6
   When You Trap a Tiger

   Tae Keller · 1 district · removed · latest Oct 2023
   Amazon→

“Latest” = the most recent dated removal in PEN America’s 2023–24 index.

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What people ask about banned books in Kentucky

What books are banned in Kentucky schools?

6 titles are on our Kentucky list, each removed, restricted or challenged by at least one school district. The most widely removed: City of Thieves (1 district · removed), I'll Give You the Sun (1 district · removed) and King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold) (1 district · removed). The full list is below.

Is City of Thieves banned in Kentucky?

Yes, it is on the Kentucky list: 1 district · removed. City of Thieves shows every record with its source.

Is any book banned statewide in Kentucky?

None in our records. Every title on this list was removed, restricted or challenged by individual school districts; the label on each title says how many.

How book challenges work in Kentucky

Kentucky has 6 titles on file as banned, restricted, or formally challenged by at least one Kentucky public-school district in the public sources ReadingList aggregates from (PEN America's Index of School Book Bans and the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom most-challenged list). These tracked numbers represent FORMAL challenges that reached district board minutes, ALA OIF reporting, or PEN America's quarterly index — quieter classroom-level removals that never reached those national trackers are not captured here, so the actual scope of restriction in Kentucky is plausibly larger than this list reflects.

Book challenges in Kentucky typically follow a layered process: a parent, board member, or community member files a written request for reconsideration of an assigned title with a specific school or district; the district convenes a review committee (usually comprising teachers, librarians, administrators, and sometimes parent representatives); the committee reads the book, evaluates it against the district's selection criteria and against Kentucky ELA standards, holds at least one public comment session, and votes to retain, restrict (e.g., grade-level limits or parental consent), or remove the title from the approved curriculum. Decisions are typically appealable to the state board of education within a defined window.

Common challenge bases across the 6 Kentucky titles tracked here mirror the national pattern: sexual content (most common), LGBTQ+ themes, race and racism, profanity or violence, religion and political content, and depictions of substance abuse. Tracked titles include: City of Thieves; I'll Give You the Sun; King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold). Each title's detail page lists the specific Kentucky district that initiated the challenge, the date, and (when published) the formal challenge basis recorded in district minutes. For deeper context on national patterns, the linked PEN America and ALA pages publish quarterly and annual reports.

For parents, teachers, librarians, and students in Kentucky navigating this landscape: the practical paths forward depend on role. Parents who object to a specific assigned title can typically request an alternative assignment from the teacher directly without initiating a formal challenge — most Kentucky districts have informal opt-out paths well before the formal reconsideration process kicks in. Librarians and teachers facing pressure to remove a title can document the formal selection criteria the book met, gather student-reader testimonials (with FERPA-compliant consent), and align with the National Coalition Against Censorship for advisory support. Students directly affected by a book removal can speak at the school board meeting where the decision is reviewed — public comment is open to all Kentucky district residents. Kentucky's Department of Education publishes the formal procedural framework — the source link is in the sources block above.

Related on ReadingList

• Kentucky assigned reading lists (all grades)
• Banned books in Texas schools
• All banned and challenged books we track
• Other states where we track school book bans: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.