Banned authors challenge Texas school restrictions

A historian by training, Candace Fleming never guessed she would become a children’s author — until she started reading to her two sons. She fell in love with how the genre blended entertainment with education, and soon began writing books of her own. “It’s a very serious responsibility,” she said. “I’m going to write about something that a child may never have ever encountered before — I always keep that up front.’

Now an award-winning author, Fleming has written over 60 nonfiction books for children and young adults. One of her most popular books, "Death in the Jungle," dives into the history of notorious cult The People’s Temple — winning multiple awards and snagging a spot on the Texas Library Association’s youth nonfiction reading list.

The book, written for teens and young adults, was banned from Allen ISD middle school libraries last year. The Allen ISD school library advisory council deemed Fleming’s book too “heavy” for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, removing it from a list of book acquisitions proposed by the district’s librarians. It’s a process happening across North Texas as over a dozen districts form advisory councils to monitor books coming into public school libraries.

Texas has seen a record number of public school book bans since school library advisory councils were established. According to an October report from PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for free speech across the US, Texas public schools restricted access to 11,982 books in the 2025-26 school year — more bans than any other state in the nation.

With rising bans across the state, The Dallas Morning News spoke to two authors who have seen their books blocked from North Texas libraries to get their reactions and hear why they believe their books should be available to all. The Allen ban didn’t come as a shock to Fleming— districts in Florida, Oklahoma and Louisiana also removed the book from their library shelves because of its sensitive historical themes, according to the author. “I wasn’t surprised that it was removed,” she said, “but I am disappointed and sad.”

Allen ISD library council members said the book about the mass suicide in Jonestown was too “heavy” for middle schoolers and inappropriate for preteens. District spokesperson David Hicks declined to comment on the ban.

Bonnie Wallace, a conservative activist from Llano who travels the state to challenge books, wrote in an email to The Dallas Morning News the “dark, deep, and even demonic content” in books like "Death in the Jungle" is a threat to students across Texas.

“This stuff is depressing and kids are turning away from reading,” Wallace, who appeared with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a press conference to demand restrictions on books in schools, wrote. “I don’t blame them.” But for Fleming, her book has never been about the gory details of life in the cult — it’s meant to help students explore themes of peer pressure that are “highly relevant” to their everyday life.

“Let’s face it, middle schoolers and high school, it’s all about peer pressure,” she said, “which is exactly the groupthink of People’s Temple — go along to get along.” Despite the ban, Fleming still encourages middle and high school students to read Death in the Jungle. Through learning about challenging topics in the safety of a book, Fleming said students will be better prepared to understand the world around them.

“Only by having the whole truth will kids be able to learn,” she said. “We learn from the past, we learn how to live in our present, and we learn how to live in our futures.”

It’s a viewpoint shared by Susin Nielsen, a fellow children’s author whose book, “Optimists Die First,” was banned from McKinney ISD middle schools this year. “What is so wonderful about books is that it’s such a safe place to make some of these discoveries,” she said. “It’s a wonderful, safe place — the privacy of your own imagination.”

Nielsen wrote “Optimists Die First,” a young adult novel about a teenage girl grappling with the loss of her sister, to help students understand the “tenderness and heartache” of grieving and forgiveness. She envisioned “somewhat older teenagers” reading the novel, but still disagrees with McKinney’s decision to block the book.

“It's a misguided decision,” she said. “It breaks my heart, especially when I think about the kids who need to see themselves and to see their own situations in stories.” The McKinney library council removed the book from librarian’s acquisition list in February for the same reason as Allen — its contents were deemed too “heavy” for the middle school preteen audience. The district did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment on the decision.

Book Look, a not-for-profit organisation which ranks books based on obscenity or profanity, wrote a report on "Optimists Die First" encouraging leaders to restrict minor’s access to the book because of the book’s “sexual activities,” “profanity,” “alternative sexualities” and “controversial religious commentary,” among other flags. While Nielsen respects parents who manage what their own children read, she said library council members go too far. “You can’t censor — you can’t say ‘I don't want my kid reading this book, therefore no kid should read this book,’” she said.

Fleming agreed, applauding parents who help their own children curate a reading list without impacting other children or families. “They have control for their own children — not for other people’s kids, and not for other readers.”