In February, a reconsideration committee in the Prosser School District outside Yakima, WA voted to keep A Child Called "It" or The Popularity Papers in school libraries in the district. KRRP wrote a letter urging the committee to keep the books, which were challenged by a H.S. social studies teacher in the district.
The teacher complained that A Child Called "It" too starkly portrayed child abuse and also contained profanity; The Popularity Papers, in which one character has two fathers, promoted "the homosexual agenda" he said.
The books are already under restricted access and are only available to certain students or with the permission of their parents. A Child Called "It" requires parental permission, while The Popularity Papers can be checked out only by fifth grade students, according to reports.
A district reconsideration committee composed of teachers, adminsitrators, parents and a student, decided both books should remain accessible as they have been.
"For us to pass judgment on this book is to pass judgment on those families," Deanna Flores, principal at Housel Middle School, said of The Popularity Papers.
The teacher is now appealing to the school board with his objections and may speak before the board on May 7, 2013.