Bestselling horror author Stephen King had his second title, ‘Different Seasons,’ added to an ever-growing list of books banned in all Utah public schools in early July.

King’s Response

King, who typically doesn’t respond to book banning queries, believes this case is different. In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, King wrote about the impact of his books on teenagers, saying, ‘I get letters from teenagers all the time that say things like, ‘I wasn’t a reader until I picked this book up.”

King’s ‘Different Seasons’ is a collection of four short novellas tied together through various seasons. Three of the four — ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,’ ‘Apt Pupil,’ and ‘The Body’ — inspired film adaptations.

Utah Law

Under a 2024 Utah law, if three school districts, or two districts and five charters, remove the same book for containing ‘objective sensitive material,’ all public schools in the state must remove the book. This law doesn’t apply to private schools or businesses.

Some local independent bookstores are giving out free copies of books on Utah’s banned list. King hopes this will be instrumental in the various Utah school boards changing their minds about ‘Different Seasons.’

King is the most banned author in U.S. schools, according to a report from PEN America, with 87 of his works being censored 206 times during the last school year.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.