St. Louis-area students want to read challenged books to understand race in America

Mya Walker reads two or three books a month. She enjoys literature that depicts unfamiliar experiences, particularly by authors of color or those who are LGBTQ.

The Francis Howell North High School senior said the works offer lessons in life that teachers or parents may not know how to discuss with their students or children.

“The next couple books that I plan on reading are 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison and some of the books that are being challenged,” Walker said. “I just really enjoy reading things that are new and different to me; it’s really, really important.”

According to the American Library Association, the novel by Morrison, a Nobel Prize laureate, is one of the 10 most challenged books of 2021. Some people want the book removed from school library shelves because they say it contains sexually explicit content and describes child sexual abuse.

Walker and other students may have to carry on reading books outside of the required lesson plans, if school boards continue to face demands to take books that discuss racism, gender, sexuality and history from school libraries.