Last year, a new state law was introduced that allows citizens to report books they consider "inappropriate or pornographic". The law has been criticized for censoring LGBTQI issues, anti-racism, and minority rights.
This year's regional list of book titles is, according to Expo, twice as long as last year's and totals 700. In addition to Larsson's book, "Normal People" by Sally Rooney and "A Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood are listed.
The ban – which applies to the Clay County school district – applies up to the equivalent of the final year of a Swedish upper secondary school.
Hanna Nordell, CEO of Swedish PEN, which monitors issues related to freedom of speech, says that the ban on Larsson's first part of the Millennium trilogy likely concerns the depiction of sex and sexual violence.
It is, of course, deeply regrettable, but it is no surprise. Last year, over 4,000 books were banned from schools and libraries in the USA, and this year it's over 10,000 titles, she tells Expo.
