Anastasia Tsilikas

The ALA says over 90 percent of challenges came from conservative activist groups such as Moms for Liberty, as well as local officials and administrators, not from parents or individuals.

The Library Association says that 2025 saw the second highest number of book challenges to libraries since it began documenting such efforts.

4,235 individual titles were challenged last year, just five fewer than the all-time high in 2023.

The most frequently challenged books at libraries across the country are the young adult titles Sold by Patricia McCormick and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, as well as Maya Kobabe's Genderqueer, a coming-of-age memoir told in comics form.

Anastasia Tsilikas, NPR News, New York.

The autistic Barbie was developed with ASAN, an advocacy organization run by and for autistic people.

The Barbie has articulated elbows and wrists so the doll can make the type of gestures that some autistic people use.

Its clothes are sensory sensitive and the doll's eyes gaze slightly off-center, reflecting how some autistic people avoid direct eye contact.

This newest Barbie joins a lineup of dolls intended to help kids see themselves and their lived experiences in their toys.

Other dolls in the lineup include Barbies with Down syndrome, type 1 diabetes, and vitiligo, and ones with prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs.

Anastasia Tsilikas, NPR News, New York.