Stranger than fiction: Florida school board bans a book about book bans after Moms for Liberty crusade

Florida schools are making headlines once again after a local school board banned a book about banning books.

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz tells the story of a fictional fourth grader who runs a secret banned book library out of her locker as her school takes titles off the shelves. Now, Gratz’s book has met the same fate in the Indian River County School District — thanks to a local Moms for Liberty leader.

Moms for Liberty is an “anti-government extremist” organization that promotes “anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Jennifer Pippin, president of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, led the ironic charge against the book, The Tallahassee Democrat reports.

Opponents of the book said it was inappropriate for children because it teaches “rebellion of school board authority,” according to the Democrat. Pippin told The Independent she believes the book promotes other banned books she says contain sexual content. As a result, Pippin and her allies argue that Ban This Book has no place in schools either.

But several others on the board and in the community disagree with that interpretation.

“It does not depict or describe sexual conduct, period. Maybe it refers to other books that do but it does not do that itself,” said Teri Barenborg, the school board chair, according to the Democrat.

BooksLooks.org, a website with ties to Moms for Liberty that is often cited by those pushing to ban books, even takes a mild view of the story, rating it only one out of five for inappropriateness. The site lists its main concern as “encourages activism of young children.”

“They banned the book because it talks about the books that they have banned and because it talks about book banning,” Gratz told USA Today. “It feels like they know exactly what they’re doing and they’re somewhat ashamed of what they’re doing and they don’t want a book on the shelves that calls them out.”

The book was removed in a 3-2 vote by the Indian River County School Board last month. The tie-breaking vote came from board member Kevin McDonald, who was recently appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis.

But earlier this year, even DeSantis admitted that book bans in his state had gone too far.

In 2022, he signed the “curriculum transparency” law which enabled any state resident to challenge the books available to students and led to countless bans. Then, in April, he signed a new law limiting the number of challenges a resident without children can bring forward to one per month.

“You have some people who are taking the curriculum transparency, and they are trying to weaponize that for political purposes,” DeSantis said earlier this year. “That involves objecting to normal books, like some of the books that I saw in the teacher’s lounge, these classic books.”

The original 2022 law, many experts have argued, was fueled by right-wing activists and targeted the LGBTQ+ community, as well as limited discussion about Black history.

The Independent has contacted the Indian River County School District for comment.