PEN America Urges District to Return the Book to Shelves
(NEW YORK) – PEN America today called on the New Braunfels (TX) ISD Board of Education to return Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson to school shelves, after it banned the book against the recommendations of the district’s own committee, composed of parents and educators.
“No matter how it happens, when a book is banned, students lose out,” said Yuliana Tamayo Latorre, program assistant, Freedom to Read at PEN America. “This decision to ban Allegedly is deeply misguided. The Board has overruled the recommendation by their own review committee, which voted unanimously to retain the book for students to read. This district continues to put the opinions of a small vocal minority in their community ahead of the needs of their students.”
The New Braunfels ISD Board of Education voted to ban Allegedly in a June 15 meeting. The vote came after receiving earlier in June the recommendation of the Community Book Challenge committee.
According to the committee’s report, Allegedly, “explores complex family dynamics and generational trauma in a developmentally appropriate manner. The book has been part of the library collection since 2018 and continues to circulate regularly, reflecting sustained student interest. Additionally, the text meets the district’s criteria for literary quality: it is written in natural, engaging language and encourages student readership. According to the NBISD Library Book Selection Guide, ‘research shows that students who read books of interest read more often and perform better in reading than their counterparts.’”
“Clearly educators and parents who served on this committee felt this book mattered to their students,” Tamayo Latorre continued. “The New Braunfels ISD should listen to their parents and teachers and reinstate Allegedly.”
The banning of Allegedly follows a year of censorship in the district. In Fall 2025, the district closed all non-elementary school libraries indefinitely, while it attempted to audit and remove materials it believed were in violation of SB 13, a book censorship law enacted in Texas last year. The move deprived middle and high school students of access to age-relevant titles. In October 2025, after community pushback, the district was forced to reopen their secondary school libraries.
Earlier this year, according to the Texas Freedom to Read Project, the district attempted to comply with SB 13 by using AI to conduct a sweeping review, which led them to remove or restrict more than 600 titles from high schools, 800 books from middle schools, and 60 titles in elementary schools.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057