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A bestselling black American author has condemned a Dorset school’s decision to drop her critically acclaimed novel from a reading list.
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give was removed from Budmouth Academy’s year 10 reading list after a complaint from a parent.
The novel is about a 16-year-old black American girl who lives in a poor and predominantly black neighbourhood and attends a wealthy, mostly white school. She witnesses a fatal police shooting of an unarmed black friend.
James Farquharson, a former Conservative councillor, who has two daughters at the school in Weymouth,complained about the explicit language and sexual references in the book.
He told the Guardian: “I didn’t read the whole thing. I read about half of it.”
Although the school removed the book from its year 10 reading list after the complaint, it is still accessible to older pupils.
Speaking to the Guardian, Thomas said: “Book bans are disheartening for a lot of reasons, but the worst part for me is what it says to young people who see themselves in these stories. I wish more adults would put the same energy they have towards banning books into creating a world where things like racism and police brutality no longer exist.
“For now, I’ll continue to write books that are mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors, even when the mirrors reflect uncomfortable truths.”
Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, the chief executive of Thomas’s publisher, Walker Books Group, said it stood “proudly” with her. “We firmly reject the banning of books and are concerned to see the latest developments in Weymouth, particularly given the extreme reality of book banning in the US,” she said.
“We must ask ourselves: is this the beginning of something, and what comes next? As we are doing in the US, we will work tirelessly against this. Children and young people everywhere deserve access to a diverse range of literature – not only to enjoy, but also to see themselves reflected and to appreciate the experiences of others. Reading broadens perspectives, nurtures empathy and is vital to fostering a tolerant, critical-thinking culture in schools and communities.”
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The TV presenter and journalist Charlene White also criticised the decision. “Allowing books to be banned because of the views of a sole parent is a slippery slope,” she said.
In a letter to the Guardian, Nicky Marsh, an English literature professor at the University of Southampton, described the ban as “crude, dog-whistle politics”, adding: “Weymouth’s young adults deserve more.”
The book appeared in a Guardian list of “20 books they didn’t want you to read,” compiled in August 2025.
Farquharson said: “My job as a dad is to look after my kids. My daughter expressed anxiety about having been asked to read parts of the book out. With Black Lives Matter type of stuff, how do you expose children to that without making them feel that because they are white they are going to be perceived as baddies?”
On Wednesday, Farquharson resigned “with immediate effect” from his voluntary role as chair of a local visitor attraction, Nothe Fort. In a resignation statement posted on social media he said he was unable to accept the school “conducting potentially unlawful political indoctrination” in relation to The Hate U Give. He also raised concerns about Stephen Kelman’s Pigeon English, a GCSE text. He added that since raising these concerns, the “progressive left” had conducted a “campaign of intimidation” including attacking Nothe Fort, so he had decided to resign from his role there.
A spokesperson for Budmouth Academy said: “We acknowledge that the novel raises important themes and is promoted as appropriate for readers that are aged 14+. However, after careful consideration, we have decided that there are alternative texts that raise similar themes which are better suited to our students in year 10.”
Hundreds of former students and parents signed a Change.org petition calling for the book to be reinstated.
Vicky McNab, a parent of four mixed-heritage children, two of whom attend the school and two who have left, started the petition. She said: “We are overwhelmed by the response to our petition. It is deeply reassuring to know that there is recognition of the importance of exposing young people to diverse perspectives, opening their minds and empowering them to form their own independent opinions about the world in which they live.”
