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Reading the Elizabeth Suppressed Books
Colorado's Elizabeth School District marked eighteen books for removal from school library shelves. I decided to read those books plus two others related to the controversy.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
This document (originally posted June 7, 2026) collects the articles and study guides associated with my reading of the twenty books marked for removal by the Elizabeth School District. Last Updated: June 8, 2026
Check back for updates.
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The Suppressed Books
I decided to read the eighteen books pulled from school library shelves by the Elizabeth School District, plus another book marked "suspended" but missing from shelves and a book that received a complaint and that at one point was believed removed by the ACLU. My hyperlinks point to my review and study questions for each book.
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- #Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights by Rebecca Felix
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- It's Your World—If You Don't Like It, Change It by Mikki Halpin
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (missing from shelves)
- Identical by Ellen Hopkins
- Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
- Glass by Ellen Hopkins
- Burned by Ellen Hopkins
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins
- Smoke by Ellen Hopkins
- George [or Melissa] by Alex Gino
- Redwood and Ponytail by K. A. Holt (complaint, at one point allegedly removed)