According to its website, Georgia’s Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl “is the original reading competition created by Georgia educators to encourage students to read!”
But this year, the competition is restricting and censoring the books it’s encouraging students to read. According to Book Riot, the titles are selected “annually through a process that has school and public librarians read widely across recently-published titles to select 20 finalists” for various reading levels from kindergarten to 12th grade.
This year, eight books have been removed from the high school level in an opaque process that looks like the Reading Bowl capitulated to some loud book-banning voices. They don’t want kids reading about book bans, either.
More via Book Riot:
The decision came after “receiving numerous reconsideration requests about some of the books nominated for the 2025-2026 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers.” The steering committee elected to remove eight books from the list, not only narrowing the breadth of titles being discussed by teens across the state, but also narrowing the number of books they will be reading in anticipation of voting for the Georgia Peach Book Awards.
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Among the titles banned from the competition? Samira Ahmed’s book about the reality of book banning, written in response to the widespread censorship happening across America since early 2021. Other titles removed from the competition include themes commonly targeted by book banners both nationwide and in Georgia, including books about mental health (“social emotional learning”), the realities of life as a marginalized person (“diversity, equity, and inclusion”), and sexual assault (categorized under “comprehensive sexuality education” or “gender ideology,” in book banner parlance). Not Like Other Girls was the winner of the 2025 William C. Morris YA Debut Award, an honor bestowed by librarians through the American Library Association annually.
Ironically, last week was the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. This year’s theme was “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.”
Fortunately, some Georgian students are working to exercise those rights. A Wheeler High School student has begun a petition asking for “a system that supports open dialogue and allows for diverse voices to be heard,” calling that “fundamental to learning and growth.” The petition also asks for “full transparency in the book selection and removal process.”
You can read and sign the petition here.