A collection of novellas by Stephen King has become the 36th book banned in all Utah schools, KUTV reports.
The state has banned King’s Different Seasons, originally published in 1982 by Viking. The book contains four novellas, three of which have been adapted for the big screen: “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” the basis for the movie The Shawshank Redemption; “The Body,” which was adapted into the film Stand by Me; and “Apt Pupil,” which was made into a movie of the same name.
The collection was banned under the Utah law H.B. 29, which went into effect in 2024. Under the law, FOX 13 reports, a book is automatically removed from all Utah schools if it is banned by three of the state’s more than 40 public school districts or by two of the districts as well as five charter schools.
The ban of Different Seasons comes less than five months after Utah banned King’s Bag of Bones. Since then, the state has removed 13 more books, including John Green’s Looking for Alaska, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and Alice Sebold’s Lucky.
In January, the ACLU of Utah filed suit against the state on behalf of the estate of Kurt Vonnegut; authors Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins, and Amy Reed; and two unnamed high school students. The plaintiffs claim that Utah’s Sensitive Materials Law “requires public schools and their libraries to remove a remarkable range of literature under unconstitutional, overbroad criteria imposed by the state legislature.”
Aaron Welcher of the group Let Utah Read called the ban “unfortunate” and pointed out that the book explores themes of “youth and…adolescence and childhood and self-discovery.” He added, “These aren’t things that we should shy away from.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
