Utah public schools have removed two more titles from their libraries, pushing the statewide total of restricted books to 34. The newest entries feature George R.R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings, the second installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series behind HBO’s Game of Thrones, and Jaycee Dugard’s memoir A Stolen Life, detailing her experience as a sexual assault survivor.
State Law Triggers Removals
Officials removed A Clash of Kings after Alpine, Davis, and Jordan school districts flagged it for objective sensitive content, including explicit sexual acts. Utah law mandates statewide withdrawal when three districts identify such materials. The memoir joined the list through similar district reports.
Impacted Titles and Trends
Previously restricted books encompass Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, John Green’s Looking for Alaska, Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Since early 2026, 15 titles have entered the ban list—almost twice the prior two years’ total. Davis School District initiated 33 of the 34 removals, followed by Washington and Jordan districts.
Author and Lawmaker Views
George R.R. Martin offered no statement on the current action but criticized book bans in his 2012 blog: “There’s nothing I hate more than banning books. Free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, yet somehow it is always under attack. The world is full of people who think they know better, and want to tell you what you should read, what you should write, what you should see.” Jaycee Dugard has not addressed the restriction.
State Representative John Arthur, past Utah Teacher of the Year, opposes the law’s scope. “It’s giving an outsized amount of power to a really small number of districts that are making decisions on behalf of all of us,” he said. Arthur favors local decisions: “Different communities carry different values, or at least they value literature in different ways.” He warns that uniform bans shrink library options for students dependent on schools for reading access.3420
Online and Expert Responses
Social media users predominantly back the school restrictions, clarifying they target adult themes unsuitable for minors. Comments include: “Restricting adult material from children at a school library is not banning a book” and “Every single one of those books can be purchased in Utah at any time.” Others likened it to excluding inappropriate media from schools or requiring parental consent.
Davina Sauthoff, Utah Department of Education library media specialist, outlines the procedure: Challenges begin locally via parents, teachers, or residents. “Once a book has been challenged and gone through the entire process at the LEA level, the law requires that districts and charter schools report any sensitive materials challenged to the state Board of Education.” Her professional profile adds: “Better to lose a library book than a reader!”
