A Letter to the Central Bucks School Board

When I heard that my novel, Thoughts & Prayers, was facing a challenge (let’s call it what it is: book banning) I was surprised to say the least. 

That book? 

What could an organization or school system possibly find offensive about a book focused on healing in the midst of tragedy? How could somebody possibly misread a novel so deeply that they confuse it with a political agenda? 

So imagine my shock at learning it was being challenged in the name of protecting kids. 

Sorry, but I had to laugh—even though book banning is the work of fascism and not a funny thing at all. I laughed because once again adults are pushing their agendas in the name of keeping kids safe. 

Not by challenging gun culture. 

Not by supporting victims of gun violence. 

But by banning books. 

To call Thoughts & Prayers a “school shooting book” is to tell on yourself. At tonight’s meeting, I’m sure you will read paragraphs, out of context, and breathlessly exclaim that books create school shooters. 

No. 

How about this: it’s the guns.

This fundamentally is the problem with groups like “Woke Pennsylvania,” the group that is behind banning books they have deemed dangerous. However, they refuse to see the real culprit of fear and anxiety that our gun cultures creates in all students. They cry out about political education while pushing a right wing agenda. 

They are cowards.

I write not to answer for my work—it stands on its own merit. 

Instead, I hope to be at least one voice in your meeting for the kids who need to hear that their grief is seen and heard. Their pain is seen and heard. They—in all their wonder and beauty—are seen and heard.

I pray wiser minds and gentler hearts prevail. And If they don’t, at least we still have literature—a place kids will always be able to go to escape the hegemony of cowardly adults. 

Bryan Bliss, author of Thoughts & Prayers
March 8, 2022