What's happening?

For more than 50 years, teenagers across the USA have been reading Judy Blume's book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Soon, they might not be able to.

It is one of more than 1,000 books that have been banned in some American schools.

The USA is split into areas called states. Some states are making lists of books that should not be in school libraries.

Most of the books are about gender or LGBTQLesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning and other terms (e.g. non-binary).+ characters, or about race. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is about pubertyThe time in a person's life when they go through physical and hormonal changes, changing from being a child to being an adult. and religion. Margaret, the main character, talks about boys, periods and bras with her friends.

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Some say the bans are needed to protect children. They say that anyone over 14 can choose what they want to read, but children younger than that are too young to read about gender or sexualityA person's identity in terms of who they feel attraction to. .

But others say that the people making the lists are trying to stop children from learning about race and gender. They think the bans are about controlling children's ideas and how they think.

Meanwhile, some think the bans could backfire. If children are told they are not allowed to read something, they will be more likely to want to read it. The ideas some adults are trying to ban could spread faster than ever.

Yes! Today, some adults are banning children from reading about "dangerous" ideas. Soon, they may ban these ideas everywhere.

No! Parents should be allowed to have a say in what their children read. Older children and adults can still choose to read what they would like.