Unless someone reports local book challenges, they’re not recorded anywhere. Reporting indicates how widespread challenges are, and how they’re being justified. Equally important, is following up to indicate how the issue was resolved. The source I’m using provide a lot of information, but too often the outcome of the books initial removal from the library is missing.

Such is the case with Echo Brown’s Black Girl Unlimited which was reviewed in school libraries in North Carolina to determine its “appropriateness for students at each grade level” books are written for specific age levels.

Echo Brown (1984-2023) was a speaker, storyteller, and author. Black Girl Unlimited was her debut novel. It was a William C. Morris Award Finalist. I’m not going to remember that this was a challenged book. What I will remember is how she imagined such an empowered life for women who have been sexually abused.

Website: https://www.echobrown.com/
Obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/books/echo-brown-dead.html