Two more books have been added to Utah’s public school list of banned books, including a Game of Thrones sequel.
George RR Martin has sold more than 100 million copies of his A Song of Ice and Fire series, which the hit HBO show Game of Thrones was based off, but now Utah public school students will have a gap in the long series inside their school libraries.
The second book in the series, A Clash of Kings, has vanished from the shelves, alongside sexual assault survivor Jaycee Dugard’s memoir A Stolen Life.
A Clash of Kings was banned on Monday after three school districts – Alpine, Davis, and Jordan – removed it, which caused a statewide ban.
State law requires any sensitive material to be removed statewide if three school districts report its contents.
The books were flagged as having ‘objective sensitive materials,’ including explicit sexual acts, KUTV reported.
The two new additions bring the total number of banned books in Utah public schools to 34.
Other restricted books include Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, John Green’s Looking for Alaska, Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, among others.
Students hoping to read the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin will have a hard time doing so as the second book, A Clash of Kings, has been banned in Utah public schools
Sexual assault survivor Jaycee Dugard’s memoir has also been added to the banned list
Fifteen books have been added to the statewide ban since the start of 2026 – nearly double the amount added in the last two years combined.
Of the 34 books, 33 of them were first banned in the Davis School District, according to KUTV. The most prolific districts banning books include Davis, Washington, and Jordan.
Although Martin has not commented on the most recent ban, he made himself clear in 2012 that he did not agree with the banning of books.
‘There’s nothing I hate more than banning books,’ he wrote on his blog. ‘Free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, yet somehow it is always under attack.
‘The world is full of people who think they know better, and want to tell you what you should read, what you should write, what you should see. Christian fundamentalists, Muslim extremists, the right, the left…
‘Everybody seems to have a book or two they want banned, an idea or two they don’t want expressed. Well, I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with them.’
Dugard has not publicly commented on the ban. The Daily Mail has reached out to Martin and Dugard for comment.
State Representative John Arthur, who previously won the Utah Teacher of the Year award, said the state law allows a small number of schools to decide what happens to students statewide.
Although Martin hasn’t commented on the latest ban, in 2012 he made it clear he does not agree with book bans. ‘Free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, yet somehow it is always under attack,’ he wrote
The series of Martin’s books is what HBO based its hit show Game of Thrones on
‘It’s giving an outsized amount of power to a really small number of districts that are making decisions on behalf of all of us,’ he said, according to KUTV.
He believes school libraries should remain on a local level, rather than be influenced statewide.
‘Different communities carry different values, or at least they value literature in different ways,’ he said.
Statewide bans also limit the number of books students have access to, which worries the Democrat, who said it is the only place for some children to obtain literature.
The ban sparked a surprising reaction online with most users disagreeing with Martin.
‘Stop cosplaying oppression,’ an X user wrote. ‘Restricting adult material from children at a school library is not banning a book. You don’t have the slightest clue what it’s like to live in a censorious regime. Are you pretending to be stupid or do you actually think that we live in North Korea?’
Another added: ‘I’m not sure about all of the books, but most of the books listed here have descriptive scenes of children being SA’d. I can understand why these would not be suitable for a *school* library.’
Another argued, the books were still available outside of the school library, writing: ‘Every single one of those books can be purchased in Utah at any time.’
A stock photo of a child reading a book at a library. People were quick to respond that they agreed with ban of the latest two books due to the nature of the material covered in them
Many people online agreed these two books should be banned from schools
Another argued the materials weren’t really being banned, writing: ‘Banned? More like parental permission.’
Another added: ‘Porn movies are banned in schools too.’
Davina Sauthoff, the Utah DOE’s library media specialist, said the banning process starts at the local level and can be filed by parents, teachers, or community members.
‘Once a book has been challenged and gone through the entire process at the LEA level, the law requires that districts and charter schools report any sensitive materials challenged to the state Board of Education,’ she told KUTV.
‘Better to lose a library book than a reader!’ Sauthoff’s LinkedIn page read.
