Booksology But there’s something different about this year’s Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Instead of encouraging broad and diverse reading, the Bowl removed eight of the 20 titles intended for high school-level readers. This decision was made after receiving numerous requests for reconsideration of some of the books nominated for the 2025-2026 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers. The steering committee chose to remove eight books from the list. This not only narrowed the range of titles that teens across the state discussed, but also narrowed the number of books they read in anticipation of voting for the Georgia Peach Book Award.
Here is the original list of Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl titles for high school students: Available from the Wayback Machine.
The current list of books available from the Reading Bowl website is quite different.
literary activism
In addition to the news available, we also include tips and tools to combat censorship and other bookish activities.
The eight books banned from the Reading Bowl contest are:
All of these books are published for young people, meaning that the Bowl’s steering committee has chosen to remove books that are suitable for teens participating in this competition.
Seven of the eight books banned were written by authors who identified as women, and at least five were written by authors from marginalized demographic backgrounds.
What are some of the titles banned from the contest? Samira Ahmed’s book about the reality of book banning was written in response to widespread censorship across the United States since early 2021. Other titles excluded from the contest include themes commonly targeted by the National and Georgia Book Banner, such as books about mental health (“Social Emotional Learning”), the realities of life as a marginalized population (“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”), and sexual assault (categorized below). (in book jargon: “comprehensive sex education” or “gender ideology”). different from other girls has been awarded the 2025 William C. Morris YA Debut Award, an honor bestowed annually by librarians through the American Library Association.
The removal of these books based on “numerous motions for reconsideration” raises several questions. Who filed the complaint, and who has the authority to voice their opinion on the books that are available for election to youth across the state? option Leading bowl? Why would the steering committee comply with such a request? Why did those books become a problem in the first place? The questions used in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl are developed by a committee of educators and retired educators appointed by the program’s steering committee. If there were any concerns about the content of the questions, it was (and still is!) completely within the committee’s oversight.
Needless to say, much of the rest of the book itself includes popular topics in the book banner. What rubric did the committee use to remove some and not remove others? Teens who participate in Reading Bowl, who spend their free time reading books and answering questions, not only see their reading choices undermined by the program, but also wonder how long it will be before these attacks become more widespread at the Georgia Peach Book Awards, which leverage their voices.
This is not the first time Reading Bowl has resorted to censoring books. The 2023 Cobb County Reading Bowl has been canceled “out of an abundance of caution and in light of recent events.” The warning stemmed from concerns that the school district would ban the books and that the titles included in the program, which were also selected by state library staff, would be subject to criticism.
Book censorship has become more common in Georgia since 2021. At least three public school districts, including Cobb, Columbia and Marietta counties, have documented banned books for the 2024-2025 school year. As a result, 43 books were banned.
At the time of writing, the removal of these eight books from the optional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl program has not been widely reported. Readers are encouraged to contact the program’s steering committee to find out why the title was removed and request its return.
Students across the state have also begun to protest the decision. Students at Wheeler High School have launched a petition demanding more information about the decisions made behind the scenes to remove these books from the Reading Bowl. Please share the image below to spread the word and sign the petition here.
