Book Lists
The links included in these lists will take you to a Book Shop page. There, you can purchase some of our recommended books and a percentage of the proceeds will go to Annie’s Foundation! Make sure that the Annie’s Foundation page is showing (pictured to the right). You can find our page at https://bookshop.org/shop/anniesfoundation (Link HERE)
Purchase the Books HERE
These sweet, inclusive stories about love, identity, and kindness found themselves at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case (Mahmoud v. Taylor)—because apparently nothing says “threat to religious freedom” like a child learning it’s okay to be yourself.
According to Justice Alito and the majority, books that show queer joy or gender diversity aren’t just stories—they’re subversive moral training exercises out to corrupt the nation’s youth. Their opinion reads less like a legal document and more like a Moms for Liberty Book Looks report… if it had footnotes.
These are the books they singled out. These are the stories they fear. So naturally, we think everyone should read them.
Purchase the Books HERE
Featuring banned books, righteous dissent, and zero tolerance for theocracy.
In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court handed a constitutional permission slip to parents who want to isolate their kids from learning that LGBTQ+ people exist — and gave their children legal cover to express that exclusion in the classroom under the guise of religion. But that decision is just one piece of a much larger, coordinated campaign.
The same extremist groups who cheered this ruling aren’t satisfied with controlling what their children learn. They want to dictate what all students are allowed to read and believe. That’s why books like Kindness Makes Us Strong, Just Ask!, and nearly every children’s book by or about Justice Sonia Sotomayor — the lone voice of moral clarity in the Mahamoud dissent — have been removed or challenged in public schools.
These books aren’t about sexuality. They’re about empathy, curiosity, inclusion, and the lived experiences of people whose stories don’t fit a narrow, white Christian mold. And that’s exactly why they’re being erased.
To make the stakes even clearer, we’ve included nonfiction books that expose the white Christian nationalist agenda driving the Roberts Court — because this Court isn’t just tolerating that movement, it’s enabling it. Through rulings like Mahamoud, they’re helping whitewash America, one decision (and one classroom) at a time.
This is Annie’s Foundation’s counter-canon: books that affirm humanity, celebrate dissent, and pull back the curtain on the real agenda behind today’s so-called “parental rights” crusade.
Purchase the books HERE.
You’d think once a law gets blocked in court, public schools would undo the damage. Not in Ankeny. Even after SF496 was formally enjoined, the district has refused to return these books to shelves—leaving students with fewer stories, less representation, and a lot more censorship.
What’s so dangerous about these books? They feature queer teens, survivors, Black protagonists, kids with questions, and girls who don’t shut up. In other words: they’re honest. And that’s apparently too much for Ankeny.
We think students deserve better. So here’s what they banned. Read them. Share them. And maybe ask your school board why “free country” stops at the school library door.
Note: Two books that were removed– Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle and Zahra’s Paradise by Amir–don’t appear on this list because they are not available through Bookshop.
Purchase the books HERE.
They served. They fought. They flew. They cracked codes, smuggled intel, stitched wounds, and held the line—often without recognition, and now, without even a mention. Since taking office, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has led a campaign to scrub women’s contributions from military history—deleting biographies, erasing educational content, and removing tributes to trailblazing servicewomen from official government websites. This list is our pushback.
From Revolutionary spies to Vietnam nurses, Indigenous warriors to WASP pilots, these books—fiction and nonfiction, for kids, teens, and adults—restore the women who wore the uniform and got redacted for it. Some are real, some imagined, but all of them hold space for the kind of patriotism that doesn’t get parades. These stories weren’t lost. They were erased. We’re putting them back.
Purchase the books HERE.
They banned Malala?
Yes. Really.
At least 10 different books about Malala Yousafzai—Nobel Peace Prize winner, education advocate, and literal survivor of a Taliban assassination attempt—have been banned or challenged in U.S. schools. Why? Because she dared to speak out. Because she’s Muslim. Because her story empowers girls. And apparently, that’s too much for some school boards to handle.
This list includes the books they tried to pull—biographies, picture books, memoirs, and more. Add them to your cart, your classroom, your kid’s bookshelf, or your protest sign.
Because if Malala’s story scares them, it’s exactly the one we need to tell.
Purchase the books HERE.
Banned Books That Celebrate Neurodiversity and Difference
Disability is a vital—yet often ignored—pillar of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. That’s exactly why some people want it erased. These books, many written by or about people with disabilities, have faced bans or challenges for daring to humanize neurodivergent characters, explore sensory experiences, or simply appear on a list labeled “diverse.” We believe all readers deserve to see themselves—and others—reflected in stories. These books do just that.