Authors of 'banned books' speak at Indianapolis schools

Celebrated local author Leah Johnson opened Loudmouth Books to make the books challenged or banned in public libraries more available. Her fiction writing focuses on Black queer stories with romance and happy endings — something she felt was missing from books she read growing up.

During the 2024-2025 school year, 6,870 books were challenged or banned in public school districts, according to PEN America. That's more than twice as many bans as two years ago.

In 2023, Indiana lawmakers created a law that allows parents and community members to file challenges to books at school districts and charter schools they believe to be inappropriate or harmful to minors.

Johnson’s own debut young adult novel “You Should See Me in Crown” was one of about 50 titles that were put under investigation by the Oklahoma Attorney General because of complaints from parents and conservative groups that they contained “obscene material.”

The book was also named one of the 100 best YA books by TIME magazine.

Johnson said she’s against book bands and has spent most of her professional career fighting against them and advocating for the freedom to read.

“But past that, I don’t want to spend my career centering the narratives and the voices of the people who say we don’t deserve to do this and we shouldn’t be doing the work that we do,” Johnson said. “It does a disservice to the audience that I actually write for.”

So she founded Project Loudmouth to bring more censored books and underrepresented authors into Indianapolis-area public schools. She said she wants to create more spaces for students to gain empathy towards others and for children with diverse experiences to feel seen in literature.

“Books are mirrors that reflect our experiences back to us, and they’re windows into experiences unlike our own,” Johnson said. “And so by having authors in schools, we can offer kids mirrors and windows that they may not otherwise be offered in other avenues of their educational experience.”

The nonprofit  partners with Title I schools that receive funding to support students in poverty.

Johnson said she had the idea during a book tour, when she was inspired by similar programs in St. Louis and Washington D.C.

The other part of the initiative is providing free copies of books to participants. Johnson said some participants can’t afford them.

“Trying to create spaces and structures that offer a more equal footing for young people is my priority, especially when it comes to diverse stories and storytellers,” Johnson said.

Schools that have hosted authors through Project Loudmouth so far include Arsenal Technical High School and Lynhurst Middle School.

Writing specialist at Arsenal Technical High School Allegra Mather said, when Project Loudmouth visited her school last year, she saw the program help students.

“I think that having books and authors sort of enter this space that challenge some of the ideas that maybe aren’t challenged in the regular classroom curriculum creates really interesting discussion, and it also helps students who maybe don’t have a lot of representation in our curriculum feel seen and valued,” Mather said.

Participation is consensual between authors, schools and students — to have positive space for all.

PEN America defines a school book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by governmental officials, that leads to a book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished.”

Contact WFYI All Things Considered newscaster and reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org or on Signal at SamHorton.05