1. What Is This About?
Cobb County School District believes parents are the only adults who should decide if and when their children are exposed to sexually explicit content. If material contains sexually explicit content, it will be removed from Cobb’s schools. This page provides families and the community with information about the District’s book review process, including related policies and updates. You will be able to find all relevant information on one easy-to-navigate webpage.
If newsrooms and social media platforms can’t print the page, it doesn’t belong on a school shelf.
The same excerpts that led us to pull these books are the kind of language that newspapers, TV, radio, and social media will not publish. If it is too explicit for a news story for adults, it is too explicit for unrestricted access in a school by children.
As an example of the kind of sexually explicit content that has been removed, below is a short excerpt from a book recently removed from Cobb’s schools.
Content warning: the following quoted section contains graphic language depicting the rape of an 11-year-old girl by her father.
“He wanted to break her neck, tenderly… his eleven-year-old daughter… he wanted to fu** her tenderly… the gigantic thrust he made into her… removing himself from her was so painful… he snatched his genitalia out of the dry harbor of her vagina… she appeared to have fainted.”
Source: Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, p. 161-163.
2. What Is the Policy?
- JRB-R — Parents' Bill of Rights — parent access to courses of study and classroom instructional resources through CTLS.
- IFBC-R — Library Media Programs — parent review of instructional materials and the formal reconsideration/appeal process for library resources.
- IFAA-R — Instructional Resources Selection and Acquisition — how core and supplemental instructional resources are selected.
- Learning Resources — Community Review — District page for community review periods and contact information.
Parent-requested reconsideration: Under IFBC-R, a parent/guardian of a currently enrolled student can request reconsideration of a library resource, first with the principal and then, if unresolved, via Form IFBC-3 to the School Library Media Committee, with an appeal path to the District Library Media Committee.
District-initiated review: District staff may flag a title for review when they become aware of potentially inappropriate content; a parent complaint is not required to start this process.
3. Books Removed Following the Review Process:
Removed in 2026 — 1 title
| Title | Author | Removed |
| The Bluest Eye | Toni Morrison | September 2026 |
Removed in 2025 — 4 titles
| Title | Author | Removed |
| American Psycho | Bret Easton Ellis | April 2025 |
| Dead End | Jason Myers | March 2025 |
| Triangles | Ellen Hopkins | January 2025 |
| A Stolen Life | Jaycee Dugard | January 2025 |
Removed in 2024 — 25 titles
| Title | Author | Removed |
| Summer of Owen Todd | Tony Abbott | October 2024 |
| More Happy Than Not | Adam Silvera | October 2024 |
| This Book Is Gay | Juno Dawson | October 2024 |
| We Know It Was You | Maggie Thrash | October 2024 |
| The Sun and Her Flowers | Rupi Kaur | October 2024 |
| City of Saints and Thieves | Natalie C. Anderson | October 2024 |
| A Court of Wings and Ruin | Sarah J. Maas | September 2024 |
| A Court of Thorns and Roses | Sarah J. Maas | September 2024 |
| A Court of Mist and Fury | Sarah J. Maas | September 2024 |
| A Court of Frost and Starlight | Sarah J. Maas | September 2024 |
| A Court of Silver Flames | Sarah J. Maas | September 2024 |
| Ironfire | David Ball | September 2024 |
| Laid | Shannon Teresa Boodram | August 2024 |
| Crank | Ellen Hopkins | August 2024 |
| Tricks | Ellen Hopkins | August 2024 |
| Identical | Ellen Hopkins | August 2024 |
| Milk and Honey | Rupi Kaur | August 2024 |
| Push | Sapphire | August 2024 |
| It Starts with Us | Colleen Hoover | August 2024 |
| The Infinite Moment of Us | Lauren Myracle | August 2024 |
| Casual Vacancy | J.K. Rowling | August 2024 |
| Boys Aren't Blue | George M. Johnson | August 2024 |
| Juliet Takes a Breath | Gabby Rivera | August 2024 |
| Monday's Not Coming | Tiffany D. Jackson | August 2024 |
| City of Thieves | David Benioff | August 2024 |
Removed in 2023 — 7 titles
| Title | Author | Removed |
| Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl | Jesse Andrews | September 2023 |
| Flamer | Mike Curato | September 2023 |
| Blankets | Craig Thompson | September 2023 |
| It Ends with Us | Colleen Hoover | September 2023 |
| The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Stephen Chbosky | September 2023 |
| Lucky | Alice Sebold | September 2023 |
| Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher | September 2023 |
Source: Cobb Schools, "Keeping Students Safe: Cobb's Ongoing Book Review Process," April 24, 2025
4. Related District Updates
August 2026 — Superintendent Emphasizes Safety Following Successful Start to 2026-27 School Year
April 2025 — Keeping Students Safe: Cobb's Ongoing Book Review Process
March 2025 — Superintendent Updates Community on Safety Measures
January 2025 — Superintendent Updates Board on Board Review Process
October 2024 — Keeping Students Safe: Cobb Continues Book Review Process
September 2024 — Cobb Removes More Sexually Explicit Books from Schools
August 2024 — Cobb Continues Removing Sexually Explicit Content from Schools
April 2024 — Superintendent Remains Resolved to Protect Cobb Students
January 2024 — Superintendent Ragsdale Delivers Update on Books
September 2023 — Superintendent Ragsdale: Cobb will continue to put students first
