Conservatives hate Ashley Hope Pérez's novel but she's not afraid to write what we need to read

Writers are, of course, worried about efforts to ban (and even burn) books, thanks to Republicans pushing bad-faith efforts to keep books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color out of public spaces like libraries and classrooms. But as Ashley Hope Pérez, author of the young adult novel Out of Darkness, tells Daily Kos during a phone interview, it’s not only writers who have reason to be concerned about censorship efforts—it’s also, and perhaps especially, public school teachers and librarians.

Pérez, a former high school English teacher who now serves as an assistant professor at The Ohio State University, published Out of Darkness back in 2015, but her stunning historical fiction continues to draw fury from conservatives. The book details an interracial romance in East Texas during the 1930s, with a real-life school tragedy as a historical backdrop in this heavy yet deeply compelling story about segregation, racism, and sexual violence—as well as joy, love, and power.

Pérez tells Daily Kos her book isn’t typically required reading in school curriculums, but conservatives have worked hard to get her book pulled from shelves by arguing the depictions of rape are pornography and therefore inappropriate. (You might recall this viral video of a mother in Texas absolutely losing it about this scene in the book during a meeting about ... masks.)

The author breaks down the coded language conservatives are using to push books like hers out of schools, and why we need to think critically about the multiple layers of meaning when conservatives try to paint a book as “obscene,” “grooming,” or “inappropriate.” Would they say the same about a book by or about cisgender, straight white people? I think we all know the answer to that.

RELATED STORY: Cheryl Rainfield knows young readers have stolen her books from libraries—and she understands why