A parent of an incoming freshman in Enfield, CT took a complaint about the graphic novel Sidescrollers to the district Board of Education and succeeded in having the book axed from the list. In addition, the board decided to take responsibility for creating the reading list out of the hands of its teachers and funnel it through a board committee and Chief Academic Officer.
The parent took issue with the school endorsing the book, which contains profanity and sexual references. The Book is on the Young Adult Library Association’s 2008 List of Great Graphic Novels for Teens.
Incoming freshmen at two high schools in Enfield, CT were given a list of six books and asked to choose one book from the list as a summer reading title. Honors students were asked to read two. Ironically, also on the list were two other frequently challenged books, Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
Additionally ironic, is the Board of Education’s statement in its Instructional Policies that “No parent nor group of parents has the right to negate the use of educational resources for students other than his/her own child.”