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Non-fiction works are now surging on the list of those being stricken from our libraries. From July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, 6,780 titles were banned across 23 states. Twenty-nine percent—more than 1,000—of those books were non-fiction, more than double the previous year.

According the PEN America, the problem is the rise of anti-intellectualism, which by definition means the skepticism, mistrust, or hostility toward intellect, education, and intellectual pursuits, such as science, literature, and philosophy.

Anyone else just get a chill?

Ellie Wiesel’s Holocaust memoir Night, Boy Erased: A Memoire of Identity, Faith and Family by Garrard Conley, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings have, among many others, been challenged or banned. Books like these are called offensive because of content including sex, sexual identity, violence, the portrayal substance abuse, historical truths about injustice, and, in the case of The Diary of a Young Girl “depressing content”. Read that last one again.

Book banners defend their actions saying they are protecting children. But, let’s be honest, kids are accessing all sorts of content on the Internet. Preteens are scrolling porn and playing ultra-violent video games. They are chatting with AI companions—machines with no empathy or moral boundaries—that will guide them toward the subjects book banners fear, but unlike in the memoirs above they will learn about these complex topics devoid of context.

As for the science books facing censorship, ones that cover human biology, climate change, evolution, vaccines, and other topics, I can’t help but wonder how little prepared kids will be when they head out into the world. It seems we are intentionally handicapping our children.

Anyone else baffled?

2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards: Bronze Medal Winner for Fiction: West-Mountain Region 

Contemporary Fiction/Young Adult Fiction

Amphorae Publishing Group

Rose Madsen dreams of becoming a science teacher and will do anything to keep from being married off to one of the men in her Fundamentalist Mormon (FLDS) community, including enduring her mother’s brutal beatings. Adan Reyes dreams of better days with his mother when he escapes the foster care system in Phoenix. When their fates become intertwined, Rose and Adan escape into the mountains, only to be hunted like animals. After they are discovered, they must decide if everyone they meet is determined to keep them locked in lives of abuse, or if some adults are worthy of their trust?

Get your copy here.

Praise for The Scent of Rain

“A deftly crafted and compelling read from cover to cover.” – Midwest Book Review

“Essential reading for both young adults and adults alike. There is literally nothing else I can say, except buy this book.” – Childishly Passionate Reviews

“A heartrending, heart-wrenching fictional narrative … Even in the midst of tribulations, The Scent of Rain celebrates the resilience and persistence of the human spirit.” – The Haunted Reading Room

“The characters in ‘The Scent of Rain’ added to an already amazing storyline.” – YABOOKSCENTRAL

“I loved ‘The Scent of Rain’.  It is very apparent that Montgomery did extensive amounts of research … I absolutely think everyone should read it.” – The Book Return

“Whew. What a whirlwind. The story had been building and building and it all came to a tumbling end.”- Hasty Book List