Meet the Activist: Angelina S.
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Meet the Activist: Angelina S.
Angelina S. is a rising high school sophomore who loves animals, music, and reading literature (especially fantasy novels)!
Angelina S. is a rising high school sophomore who loves animals, music, and reading literature (especially fantasy novels)! As part of Novelly’s SPEAK! Activist Network, Angelina immersed herself in coursework on the freedom to read movement and made plans to diversify bookshelves in California.
Angelina’s campaign involved hanging posters around her school’s campus to promote the goals of the SPEAK! Activist Network. She also plans to distribute information via her school’s English Department’s online forums.
Thank you for fighting for our freedom to read, Angelina! ✨
Book Challenges Nearly Doubled From 2021-2022
In March 2023, the American Library Association (ALA) released new data documenting 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 challenges reported in 2021.
In 2022, a record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.
→ Learn more in this press release from the ALA.
Join the freedom to read movement
→ Explore the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)’s Intellectual Freedom Center.
→ Read and share a piece from the Novelly library that would likely be banned or challenged.
→ If you are an 8th-12th grade English Language Arts teacher interested in amplifying diverse youth authors in your classroom, submit your interest here.
Diverse Youth Voices. Amplified.
Novelly is on a mission to get e-books by underrepresented youth published and taught in the English classroom, so that every student can feel seen and inspired by what they read in school.