Why Rebecca Yarros Is Anti-Book Ban: ‘I’m Not a Librarian’ (Exclusive)

The bestselling 'Fourth Wing' and 'Variation' author talks to her kids a lot about "censorship and what we consume"

Rebecca Yarros doesn't believe in censorship — and knows that parents only have so much control over what their kids are reading, period.

The mega-bestselling author of 25 books has been around for a while, but her online presence vaulted into the spotlight after her dragon-riding romantasy Fourth Wing rocketed to the top of the New York Times bestseller list in 2023, selling more than 2 million copies and sparking hashtags that racked up over a billion views on TikTok.

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And after enduring a barrage of social media attention — even facing death threats that forced her and her family to move — Yarros, 43, knows better than most that books can spark real controversy. But that doesn't mean she wants to restrict access to them.

As the mother of two girls and four boys between the ages of 11 and 27 with her husband Jason, 44, Yarros is clear-eyed about how much she can do about the media her kids are consuming.

Related: Rebecca Yarros' New Book Saved Her: 'If I Hadn't Written Variation, I Wouldn't Have Written Onyx Storm' (Exclusive)

"I always laugh and say anyone who says they know exactly what their teenager is doing is either lying or in denial," she tells PEOPLE for a story in this week's print issue.

"I'm sorry, but there's no way to constantly know what your teenager is doing, and it is this heavy sense of responsibility," she continues. "But at some point, you also have to say, 'We've raised this human, and they are a person with their own boundaries, with their own thoughts and their own feelings, and whether or not they match my thoughts and feelings, they have a right to consume certain amounts of content."

She and her kids talk about both the positives and negatives of social media, "who you're letting into your brain space" and the messages they're receiving from all kinds of sources, books included.

"We talk about censorship in our house a lot, especially because we're anti-book ban over here," Yarros says. "I've always thought that if you have a problem with what your kid is reading at school, you should be reading it with them and asking the questions."

Related: New Coalition Against Book Bans Launches Nationwide With Support From Authors Like Judy Blume and Julia Quinn

The author also prefers to leave the decisions to the experts, noting that she doesn't have the educational background in literature, library sciences or related fields that enable experts to make educated decisions about what to stock in a library, bookstore or classroom.

"I'm not a librarian," she adds. "But I think that where you stumble into book bans is no one else's parents should be making that decision for someone else's child. I think free access to information is just always always best."

Variation by Rebecca Yarros is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.