The Denver Public Library recommends these library resources to enhance your theater experience of Bad Books from Curious Theatre, showing this winter from January to February 2026.
A concerned mother. A dedicated librarian. The quietest place in America turns into the battleground for a fiery debate about parenting and censorship that starts a chain of events no one saw coming. With sharp wit and a whole lot of heart, Bad Books takes a comedic look at the messiness of motherhood, the madness of modern outrage, and the quiet heroism of librarians everywhere. Bad Books is produced at Curious Theatre Company as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other Partner Theaters are Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, FL), Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD), and Williamston Theatre (Williamston, MI) with additional support from The David Goldman Fund for New American Plays.
What to Read
Our reading recommendation: This is a timely defense of public education, arguing that attacks on teachers and schools by extremist groups stem from a fascist tactic to control citizens by undermining critical thinking and independent thought, essential skills taught in welcoming, diverse classrooms. Blending historical context with contemporary examples, the book serves as a rallying cry, showing how public schools foster democracy, opportunity, and tolerance, making educators crucial frontline defenders against authoritarianism and censorship.
About the book: America's most influential teacher's union leader tells the anti-fascist history of public education, warning that American teachers today are under a new fascist assault-from book bans to culture wars and organized groups of "concerned" parents dictating what can be taught.
Our reading recommendation: Jones is a compelling narrator with a nearly unbelievable story that is a parable for our divided times. In this nightmarish tale of a small-town battle gone viral, she shows immense courage by standing up to her tormentors and refusing to be silenced.
About the book: Part memoir, part manifesto, the inspiring story of a Louisiana librarian advocating for inclusivity on the front lines of our vicious culture wars. Small town librarian Amanda Jones has been called a groomer, a pedo, and a porn-pusher; she has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and friends alike. When she stood up for diverse perspectives at a public library board meeting, she became a target for extremists using book banning campaigns-funded by dark money organizations and advanced by hard right politicians-in a crusade to make America more white, straight, and “Christian.” But Amanda Jones wouldn't give up without a fight: she sued her harassers for defamation and urged others to join her in the resistance.
Mapping the book banning crisis occurring all across the nation, That Librarian draws the battle lines in the war against intellectual freedom, calling book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of our readers.
What to Watch
Our watching recommendation: Nudity is a common frequent objection for movies and books that are challenged as inappropriate. Denver Public Library upholds the right of the individual to access information that is controversial, unorthodox, or unacceptable to others. This film is an exhaustive trace of nakedness in films from the silent move era to the moral codes implemented in the 1930s to the #MeToo era changes.
About the movie: A definitive documentary on the history of nudity in the movies, beginning with the silent movie era through present day, examining the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological, and artistic changes that shaped this rich history. Skin delves into the gender bias concerning nudity in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has pushed for gender equality in feature films today. A deep discussion of pre-code Hollywood and its amoral roots, the censorship that "cleaned up" Hollywood, and how the MPAA was formed leads into a discussion of how nudity changed cinematic culture through the decades.
Our watching recommendation: This 2023 lecture series from The Great Courses covers literature – from Shakespeare to the dictionary to Winne-the-Pooh – that has been challenged and banned. While the past few years have seen a steep rise in book challenges in schools and libraries, these complaints are not so different from the criticism of 100 years ago. Learn the common reasons people object to books based on morality and religious reasons, the danger in children’s books, and the fight over historical narratives in textbooks.
About the DVD: With Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works, author and book critic Professor Maureen Corrigan will take you on a tour of some of the most challenged and controversial works of literature, from the plays of Shakespeare to 21st-century best-sellers--even including the dictionary and classic fairy tales. You will explore the reasons books have been and continue to be banned, including profanity, heresy, illicit or sexual content, racism, violence, and more. And you'll consider the shifting trends in why books are challenged.
What to Listen
Our listening recommendation: Seeing as censorship and the idea that some topics should be banned are a central theme to Bad Books, the listening accompaniment that immediately came to mind was Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy. This was, and still is, a revolutionary album that combats the idea that inequity shouldn’t be challenged. The standout track on the album that relates most directly to Bad Books would be “Fight the Power”.
About the album: This album contains Public Enemy's most famous song, "Fight the Power," an iconic anthem. Part of the hip-hop group's songwriting was inspired by the controversy surrounding a member's anti-Semitic comments and his consequent dismissal from the group after the huge success of "Fight the Power" on the soundtrack for Do the Right Thing. The album is a searing, sampled masterpiece that became an anthem for Black empowerment and a rallying cry to challenge the status quo and fight systemic oppression, cementing Public Enemy's status as revolutionary artists.
What to Download
Our download recommendation: Like Bad Books, Banned Together is about the conflict between people who want to control what others–particularly minors–read, and those who believe in the freedom to read. While Bad Books is fictional, Banned Together focuses on real world teenagers and how they have fought for intellectual freedom.
About the film: A diverse cast of visionary teenagers, stirring public protests, private threats, criminal charges, and drama-filled school board meetings: this is the explosive world of BANNED TOGETHER. The film pulls back the curtain on two of the most controversial issues in America today: book bans and curriculum censorship in public schools. Banned Together follows three students as they fight to reinstate 97 books suddenly pulled from their school libraries. As they evolve from local to national activists, they meet with banned authors, politicians, and the major players protecting the First Amendment of our Constitution. Woven throughout the story about the student activists include Congressman Jamie Raskin; bestselling and banned authors like Juno Dawson, Jodi Picoult, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Erika L. Sanchez, and Ellen Hopkins; First Amendment warriors like Jonathan Friedman from PEN America and Deborah Caldwell-Stone from the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom; Prof. Justin Hansford, the Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law; Olivia Little, a senior investigative researcher from Media Matters for America who's done in-depth reporting about Moms for Liberty since early 2021; organizations fighting on the front lines in Florida; Maurice Cunningham, author of "Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization"; and IL Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias who wrote the first anti-book-ban legislation in the country... to name just a few!