A Brief History of Banning Ellen Hopkins

Abstract

Ellen Hopkins, the author of many verse novels for teens, did not shy away from writing about tough topics, like drug abuse, domestic abuse, sexual assault, and violence. Writing based on her own experiences—as a woman, and as a mother—Hopkins found herself, for a period in the early 21st century, the target of censors who thought her tales were too dark and gritty for teens. This chapter explores the author’s own relationship to Hopkins’ work and the history of attempts to censor Hopkins and her stories over the past nearly two decades. From disinvitations to permission slips, censorship takes many forms. It goes after many different people and types of books, and through the timeline of attempts to ban one specific author, we can illuminate ways in which censors attack people’s lived experiences when they attempt to ban a book.