<\/p>\n
If you spent the holidays belting \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d with your family, you might want to sit down for this one.<\/p>\n
Gregory Maguire\u2019s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West<\/em><\/a>\u2014the novel that inspired the Broadway phenomenon and Ariana Grande\u2019s blockbuster film\u2014has officially been banned from all public schools in Utah.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Board of Education added the 1995 novel to its growing list of prohibited books on January 5, citing \u201cobjective sensitive materials.\u201d It joins 21 other titles now forbidden in Utah classrooms, putting the state at the top of the nation for statewide book bans.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what most people don\u2019t realize: if you\u2019ve only seen the musical or the movie, you don\u2019t actually know this book.<\/p>\n The Novel Is Nothing Like the Musical<\/strong><\/p>\n Maguire himself has been clear about this. The author has said his novel isn\u2019t intended for young readers and that he purposefully included mature content early on to signal what kind of story this was. If readers came expecting chorus lines and dancing monkeys, they were in the wrong place.<\/p>\n The book includes graphic content\u2014sex, violence, and sexual assault. It\u2019s a dark political allegory that Maguire has said was inspired by the murder of British toddler Jamie Bulger, the Gulf War, and the AIDS epidemic. Elphaba\u2019s journey isn\u2019t a sparkly tale of friendship. It\u2019s an unflinching look at evil, oppression, and the ways society manufactures its villains.<\/p>\n The Broadway adaptation, which opened in 2003, softened virtually all of this into a crowd-pleasing story about two friends on opposite sides of a conflict. The film follows that same family-friendly path.<\/p>\n So when Utah officials labeled the source material inappropriate for schools, they weren\u2019t talking about the story audiences know and love. They were talking about an entirely different beast wearing the same green skin.<\/p>\n How Utah\u2019s Ban Works<\/strong><\/p>\n Under a law passed in 2024, books are automatically banned statewide if at least three school districts determine they contain \u201cpornographic or indecent\u201d content. Wicked<\/em> hit that threshold after removals in Davis, Tooele, and Washington County school districts.<\/p>\n The novel was the sixth most-banned book in American schools during the 2024-2025 school year, according to PEN America. Other titles on Utah\u2019s banned list include the A Court of Thorns and Roses<\/em> series by Sarah J. Maas and Thirteen Reasons Why<\/em> by Jay Asher.<\/p>\n Two other titles joined the list the same day: Jodi Picoult\u2019s Nineteen Minutes<\/em> and Stephen Chbosky\u2019s The Perks of Being a Wallflower<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Backlash Has Already Begun<\/strong><\/p>\n