Author Kirsten Miller Has Some Advice for Fighting Book Bans: ‘Find Your Posse’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Kirsten Miller.Photo:Courtesy of Kirsten Miller

Courtesy of Kirsten Miller

William Morrow

Miller recently spent time traveling the country, talking with librarians, teachers and booksellers, as book bans skyrocket nationwide. A recentPEN America reportfound that there were over 10,000 recorded instances of book bans during the 2023-2024 school year, a200 percent surgeover the previous year.“I’m from the South, and a lot of people assume that it’s a southern problem,” Miller said. “You talk to librarians in Massachusetts or Wisconsin or even Connecticut and they will tell you that the same thing is happening in their schools and in their public libraries and even in their bookstores.”

Miller, who got her start as a children’s author, also noted how fiction can offer a way to discuss hard topics with readers.“One of the things that I’ve been trying to do is to take up very, very serious issues, whether it’s violence against women in my first book,The Change, or whether it is book banning inLula Dean, and really try to reel people into these very, very serious topics with humor and with an entertaining story,” the author explained.

Amazon

“Because I think, right now, people are very hesitant. They do not want to be lectured,” the author added. “They do not want to be browbeaten. And I think the effect of that is that we’ve ended up not having discussions that we really need to have.”

Miller also had some advice for those who may be looking for ways tocombat book banning.“Find a posse [and] surround yourself with people who feel the same way,” Miller advised. “One of the things that I’ve seen over and over again in the cities and towns that I visit, people that are fighting to keep books on the shelves often feel very isolated and very alone … find your people and fight for what you think is right.”

source: people.com