Seven books must come off Canyons and Alpine school district library shelves after Utah added them to its statewide banned list Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The batch is the largest single ban since Utah's sensitive materials law took effect in July 2024. It brings the total number of prohibited titles to 44, first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune. Both Canyons and Alpine serve Draper families.

The newly banned titles are "House of Earth and Blood" by Sarah J. Maas, "Perfect" and "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse Andrews, "Kingdom of the Cursed" by Kerri Maniscalco, "Storm and Fury" by Jennifer Armentrout and "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by V.E. Schwab.

None had been available to elementary students.

Under House Bill 29 (H.B. 29), signed by Gov. Spencer Cox in 2024, a book is removed from every public school in the state once at least three districts, or two districts and five charter schools, determine it contains "objective sensitive material" meeting state definitions for pornographic or indecent content. The seven new titles each crossed that threshold.

Sarah J. Maas now has seven titles on the statewide removal list, the most of any author in Utah. Ellen Hopkins has six.

Hopkins is also a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging the law. In Caged Bird Legacy LLC et al. v. Derek Brown, filed Jan. 6 in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, authors including Hopkins, the estates of Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut, and others allege the ban is an unconstitutional, overbroad content-based restriction. On Sept. 15, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled the authors have standing, finding the ban has damaged them financially, reputationally and professionally. He granted in part and denied in part the state's motion to dismiss, according to the court order.

That order specifically names Canyons and Alpine as districts that "have banned and removed books pursuant to the book ban, including books written by the Plaintiff Authors."

Hopkins wrote on her website that "Identical," which depicts sexual abuse, grew from personal connections. "I chose this subject matter because the issue touched the lives of three of my friends," she wrote. "… I want readers to know it is possible to find a way beyond this terrible place, into a brighter future."

Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who sponsored H.B. 29, has said the law directs schools to prioritize "protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography." In a Sept. 28 Salt Lake Tribune report about how Davis School District handles book-ban votes on its consent agenda, Ivory defended the practice, saying a written determination "identifies the rationale and each component as clearly as a floor discussion would, if not more so."

State officials have not cited specific content details when placing titles on the banned list. Neither Canyons nor Alpine has issued a public statement about this latest batch.

The federal lawsuit continues, though no trial date or next hearing has been announced. The statewide bans have originated from just nine of Utah's 41 school districts.