By Delayna Earley
The Island News
The South Carolina Board of Education will be considering whether to remove 10 more books from public school libraries across the state on Thursday, March 13.
All 10 of the books being reviewed were submitted by Beaufort County resident Elizabeth “Ivie” Szalai, who originally submitted a list of 97 books in 2022 to be reviewed by the Beaufort County School District.
Under the state’s regulation, books can be banned statewide if they contain visual depictions or descriptions of sexual conduct.
As the books have already gone through a review process in Beaufort County and were returned to school libraries, the state will now decide their fate.
The 10 books that are being reviewed are “Collateral,” by Ellen Hopkins, “Empire of Storm,” by Sarah J. Maas, “Half of a Yellow Sun,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Hopeless,” by Colleen Hoover, “Identical,” by Ellen Hopkins, “Kingdom of Ash,” by Sarah J. Maas, “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” by Malinda Lo, “Living Dead Girl,” by Elizabeth Scott, “Lucky,” by Alice Sebold and “Tricks,” by Ellen Hopkins.
To date, the Board has reviewed 17 books and has removed 11 of them, including four books challenged by Szalai in January.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
