Canyons School District libraries lost seven titles Monday, Sept. 28, after Utah banned the books from all public schools statewide.

The action marks the largest single-batch removal since the state's sensitive materials law took effect. It brings the total number of books now prohibited in Utah public schools to 44, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Canyons serves Sandy, Draper, Cottonwood Heights and Midvale.

The newly banned titles are: "House of Earth and Blood" by Sarah J. Maas, "Perfect" and "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse Andrews, "Kingdom of the Cursed" by Kerri Maniscalco, "Storm and Fury" by Jennifer Armentrout and "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by V.E. Schwab. None had been available in elementary schools.

Under H.B. 29, passed in 2024, a book is removed statewide once at least three school districts, or two districts and five charter schools, determine it meets the state's definition of "objective sensitive material." A federal court order filed Sept. 15 confirmed that Canyons is among the districts that have banned and removed books under the law.

Sarah J. Maas is now the most-banned author in Utah public schools, with seven titles on the removal list. Ellen Hopkins is second with six. Hopkins is also among the bestselling authors suing the state over the law in federal court.

Hopkins has said she wrote "Identical," which follows teenage twins dealing with sexual abuse, to shed light on the experiences of people she knew. "I chose this subject matter because the issue touched the lives of three of my friends … they are successful, beautiful women who you would never believe this might have happened to," she wrote on her website.

The bans arrive less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled Sept. 16 that the authors' First Amendment lawsuit against the state can proceed. The judge denied the state's motion to dismiss, finding the plaintiffs had standing. ACLU of Utah legal director Jason Groth said in a Sept. 17 news release that the ruling "allows us to now address the weighty constitutional issues at stake."

Two of the seven newly banned titles appeared on the American Library Association's (ALA) 2025 list of most-challenged books nationally: "Identical" tied for eighth and "Storm and Fury" tied for 11th. ABC4 reported Utah now has the eighth-highest total of banned books in the country.

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" is the second Jesse Andrews novel banned in Utah. His book "The Haters" was removed in April. The film adaptation of "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Canyons School District has not issued a public statement on the Sept. 28 removals. Banned Books Week runs Sunday, Oct. 4–10, with the ALA theme "Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read."