Read With Jenna Book Club Pick Named Among Most Banned Novels in the U.S.
Jenna Bush Hager's favorite novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, is one of the most frequently banned books in the United States.
According to the American Library Association, the 1970 novel has experienced 306 documented censorship attempts at U.S. schools, libraries and universities, with 84 instances of banning. The Bluest Eye was also included on PEN America's list of books banned in 12 or more school districts during the 2024-2025 school year.
Bush Hager, 44, selected Morrison's debut novel as her December 2020 Read With Jenna book club pick. The month prior, she revealed in a Today show article that she first read the book for an assignment in her sophomore English class at her Texas high school.
"Thematically, I had never read anything quite like this," she recalled. "It was a book that talked about adult subjects but the underlying themes of racism, otherness and feeling not good enough were things that my classmates were dealing with, particularly my classmates of color. It was the first book that really opened my eyes to how literature can create understanding and take you into worlds you don't know."
Bush Hager then delved into the significance of getting to read The Bluest Eye despite the novel being restricted from students at other schools in her home state.
"My mom [Laura Bush] being a librarian, we talked often as kids about books that were banned," she explained. "At the time I read it, The Bluest Eye was prohibited across some Texas schools. Knowing that some kids weren't even allowed to read this made it an even more special treasure of a book."
As The Bluest Eye celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, Bush Hager noted that the book "still holds incredible power to spark current conversations. While this fact is heartbreaking, it also shows how complicated and complex some of these themes are."
While recommending it to her book club readers, Bush Hager expected her own perspective to shift as she reread The Bluest Eye, sharing, "I can't wait to see how adulthood and now being in my late 30s will make this novel resonate in a different way."
She concluded, "Of course, if you are reading for the first time, I hope you marvel at the beauty of Toni Morrison's writing the way I did when I first picked up a copy. She is my favorite author of all time, and I am honored to be recommending her book to this special group of readers."
Bush Hager later confirmed in a Goodreads Q&A that The Bluest Eye remains her "favorite novel."
"This is a book I have read multiple times," she wrote. "Each time I have been moved and changed by the story of Pecola Breedlove."
The Bluest Eye follows Pecola, an 11-year-old Black girl growing up in Ohio following the Great Depression. After facing criticism for her dark skin, she longs for the blue eyes she associates with America's adoration of white children. The book's themes of racism, sexual abuse and LGBTQIA+ representation-as well as false claims of illegal obscenity for minors-have fueled the book ban efforts against it in the U.S.
Morrison-who died in August 2019 from complications of pneumonia at age 88-spoke out against censorship in 2009's Burn This Book, writing, "Efforts to censor, starve, regulate and annihilate us are clear signs that something important has taken place."
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 4:10 AM.