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It's the Brian Larry Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. We've got news now of banned books in U.S. schools. Apparently, bannings have reached record levels. You know the group Penn America, the free speech group? Well, they report cover to cover. That's their new report. It's called cover-to-cover.

And it documents more than 10,000 instances of book removals this past school year alone,

affecting over 4,000 unique titles. And the trends are clear, they say, books featuring characters

of color, LGBTQ-plus people, and discussions of race and sexuality are being

targeted at disproportionate rates.

One of the most striking findings is that picture books and graphic novels, often key tools

for early literacy, have become a major battleground.

And as the report puts it, there has been one kind of book

that has dominated discourse about book removals and school libraries over the last three years,

books with pictures. These bans go beyond concerns about individual titles. Penn America's

New Report says they're part of a broader organized effort to limit what young people can read

and by extension what perspectives they're exposed to at school.

So why these books?

Why now?

We'll mention some titles and some of the bigger trends and what's really at stake.

We'll ask Jonathan Friedman, managing director of U.S. free Expression Programs at Penn America, who joins me now.

Hi, Jonathan. Welcome to WNYC.

Hi, Brian. Thanks for having me.

And listeners, you can help us report this story. Have you seen book bans or attempted book bans

at your school or in your community? 212-433, WNYC, 212, 433, 96692.

Have you felt their impact, whether as a student, parent, teacher, librarian, author, anyone?

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