Censorship, Book Bans, and Reparative Literacy: Cultivating Hope Amidst Educational Crisis

Abstract

In recent years, censorship and book bans targeting children’s and young adult literature in the United States have made language and literacy education not only a pedagogical concern but also an ethical site of crisis. Reports by the American Library Association (2023) and PEN America (2022) document the targeting of children’s and young adult texts, particularly those representing marginalized identities. While existing scholarship has predominantly emphasized the harms of censorship and book bans, this study intervenes in the field by theorizing reparative literacy as a pedagogical response to contemporary regimes of censorship. Drawing on Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s (1997) concept of reparative reading, this study conceptualizes reparative literacy as a form of pedagogical resistance. The study offers a theoretical and textual analysis of selected children’s and young adult narratives. It argues that such an approach fosters hope, empathy, and a sense of belonging for both educators and students. The study also explores how narratives in children’s and young adult literature convey affective meaning and resilience through the themes of belonging, everyday joy, and community. The study highlights reparative literacy as a subtle yet durable form of pedagogical resistance for teachers, arguing that classrooms can function as reparative spaces through reading, discussion, and sustained interpretive engagement. Ultimately, this study calls for a rethinking of pedagogical hope in an era of censorship, positioning education not only as a critical endeavor but also as a reparative practice. © 2026, University of Georgia Mary Frances Early College of Education. All rights reserved.