When Jodi Picoult’s novel “Nineteen Minutes” was first published in 2007, it won several awards for young people’s literature and was included in many states’ reading curriculum plans. Yet the book, which depicts the impact of a school shooting ...

Jodi Picoult remembers when everyone seemed to praise her novel “Nineteen Minutes," a 2007 bestseller about a school shooting that now tops a list compiled by PEN America of the books most banned in schools.

A record number of books were banned in districts across the country during the 2023-2024 school year, according to a free speech organization.

The 2007 bestseller was included in school curriculums when it was first published but is now banned in most schools