A sensitivity reader is a person who is hired to check for offensive material, stereotypes, and unfair treatment in a book. They then write a report for the author or publisher that suggests ways to improve the work. Some authors and members of the public have criticized the use of sensitivity readers, especially when changes are made to books that were published before.
Purpose
Some people believe that the quality of a written work becomes significantly better when it is reviewed and edited by people from the same nation or community that the author is writing about. Helen Wicks, who manages children's books at Bonnier, says this practice helps make publishing more inclusive and focused on future progress.
US young adult fiction
Starting in 2015, sensitivity readers became important in young adult fiction. This happened partly because of efforts to include more diverse voices in the genre. Sensitivity readers were brought in after problems before books were published. For example, Laura Moriarty's book American Heart lost its Kirkus Reviews star before it was published in 2017. Amélie Wen Zhao's book Blood Heir also faced issues. Kosoko Jackson, who is a sensitivity reader, took back his novel A Place for Wolves in 2019 because of concerns about sensitivity.
Revisions of published works
Publishers use sensitivity readers to identify content in books that might be seen as offensive, such as outdated views about race or gender. In 2010, Hodder Children's Books released updated versions of Enid Blyton's Famous Five books, claiming the changes made the language "sensitively and carefully" revised to make the stories "timeless." These updates included replacing words that had changed in meaning (such as "gay" and "queer"), updating old terms (like "housemistress" and "school tunic"), and removing words like "tinker" that might be seen as negative. These editions were removed in 2016 after readers said they were not needed. In 2023, the publisher stated it would remove "inappropriate or offensive" terms but keep old-fashioned language to match the series' setting.
In 2018, Scholastic revised the 1990s Goosebumps series as part of an ebook collection. The changes aimed to make the language current and avoid imagery that could harm young readers' self-image, with a focus on mental health. The author, R. L. Stine, was not shown the changes before publication.
From 2020 onward, digital editions of Agatha Christie's novels were edited to remove references to ethnicity, such as "Indian temper" or a character's body described as "black marble." In 1940, the title of her book Ten Little Niggers was changed to And Then There Were None for the American market, and the term was also removed from the text, including the name of the island where the story takes place.
In February 2023, Ian Fleming's James Bond series was reissued with some racial slurs and offensive references removed. A disclaimer in each book explained that the changes were made to update the text while staying close to the original version. Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond novels, supported the revisions, noting that sensitivity reading is not a new practice, and he referenced Christie's And Then There Were None as an example.
That same month, Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Books, revised some of Roald Dahl's children's novels based on recommendations from sensitivity readers. This decision faced criticism from groups and individuals, including Salman Rushdie, Brian Cox, Rishi Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, and Wes Anderson. In response, Puffin announced it would continue selling the original, unaltered editions under the title The Roald Dahl Classic Collection. Seven days later, Ian Fleming Publications announced revisions to the James Bond series, including removing racial slurs and a racist portrayal of African Americans in Live and Let Die, following a review by sensitivity readers.
In 2023, Penguin Books reissued P. G. Wodehouse's 1934 novel Thank You, Jeeves with a disclaimer stating the publisher had "minimally" edited words it considered unacceptable to modern readers. This included removing racial slurs.
Criticism
In 2020, controversy over the book American Dirt led to questions about the role of sensitivity readers. Lionel Shriver argued that these readers sometimes acted as censors, claiming they were "new moral gatekeepers" or that they helped authors avoid criticism by ensuring their work met certain standards.
In 2022, Kate Clanchy wrote an essay stating that her sensitivity readers seemed to believe the past should match an idealized version of the present. She noted that they implied writing should reflect how the world should be, rather than how it is. Clanchy believed the readers struggled to understand irony, satire, or complex ideas, and that they wanted to remove unclear parts or nuanced language from stories.
In 2023, writer Anthony Horowitz said it felt wrong to have someone else tell him what to write, even if that person had good intentions. This happened when he accepted changes to descriptions of Native American characters in one of his books.