Davis School District students will find seven fewer titles on library shelves after the Utah State Board of Education added new books to the statewide banned list Monday, Sept. 28.

The action brings the total number of books prohibited in Utah public schools to 44, as ABC4 first reported. Davis School District has been involved in 43 of those bans, according to Book Riot, more than any other district in the state.

The newly banned titles include "House of Earth and Blood" by Sarah J. Maas, "Identical" and "Perfect" by Ellen Hopkins, and "Kingdom of the Cursed" by Kerri Maniscalco. The list also includes "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse Andrews, "Storm and Fury" by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by V.E. Schwab. The seven titles came primarily from challenges in Davis, Jordan and Tooele school districts.

Under Utah's H.B. 29, the sensitive materials law passed in 2024, a book removed from three districts triggers a statewide ban requiring every district to pull it. Davis has already removed all but one of the titles previously banned statewide, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Maas is now the most banned author in Utah with seven titles removed. Hopkins is second with six. Hopkins is also a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging the law. U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled Sept. 16 that the suit, filed in January by the ACLU of Utah on behalf of Hopkins, the estate of Kurt Vonnegut, other authors, and two anonymous Utah high school students, can proceed.

The pace of bans has accelerated. Twenty-five of the 44 titles have been added since January. Of the full list, 33 are by women.

Davis School District's role stands out. Of Utah's 42 public school districts, only nine have accounted for any bans. Davis leads with 43, followed by Washington County at 31 and Jordan at 22.

The volume has made book appeals routine business in Davis. The district has considered at least 40 appeals over the past two years, all placed on the school board's consent agenda rather than discussed publicly. Davis School District Assistant Superintendent Logan Toone told state board members Sept. 3 that the practice reflected the sheer number of challenges.

"That's the nature of our school district. We have a lot of these requests for review," Toone said.

The Utah State Board of Education ruled Sept. 3 that the consent-agenda approach was permissible. A Davis School District spokesperson said future book appeal decisions will be treated as regular agenda items and discussed publicly.

Since January, more than 35 titles have been challenged in Davis School District alone. No statement from the district specifically addressing the seven new removals has been made public. Banned Books Week runs Oct. 4 through Oct. 10.