Not everyone agrees with Round Rock ISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez's decision to ban TTYL by Lauren Myracle from district middle school libraries. A parent who opposes the superintendent's decision to pull the book wrote an excellent response in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Read the Kids' Right to Read Project's letter to the Board of Trustees here.
Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District Superintendent removed Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya from district high school classes after one parent objected to the book as “anti-Catholic.” The ACLU of Northern California and PEN American Center joined in sending a letter to the school board opposing the ban.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was banned from ninth grade classrooms at Portage High School in Portage, IN, in late November 2008. The book was challenged by one parent who objected to sexual content in the novel, and the school board decided to remove the book from the curriculum. In response to an article published in the school newspaper, the Pow Wow, which reported on the review process for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, school administrators imposed a new policy requiring that all future newspaper content be subject to prior review. In December 2008, the Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board and superintendent opposing the banning of the book and the new prior review policy for the newspaper.
We were delighted to hear that the Ankeny, Iowa, School Board voted 6-1 this week to keep And Tango Makes Three in the district’s elementary school libraries without restrictions. The book had been challenged by two parents who objected to the story of two male penguins who parent a baby penguin named Tango together. The Kids’ Right to Read Project [...]
Last night, the Coeur d’Alene School Board voted unanimously to return 26 titles (among them Brave New World, Tom Sawyer, and Alice in Wonderland) to district middle and high school classrooms. A committee of educators had reviewed them and recommended that they be approved by the board for classroom use. The board voted in November in a 2-2 split vote [...]
We were pleased to see that the Board of Education in New Rochelle, NY, will replace censored copies of Susanna Kaysen's memoir, Girl, Interrupted, with full text copies in New Rochelle High School classes. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent this letter to the school board, commending its decision. Here's an excerpt: We applaud your recent decision to replace [...]
School officials in Crook County, OR, removed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie from ninth grade English classes at Crook County High School after one parent complained about a passage that discussed masturbation. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the Crook County superintendent and school board, opposing the book's removal.
Sometimes, book banning is as simple as: Parent complains to school board about book (offending excerpts in hand). School board member agrees book is “inappropriate.” Good-bye, good literature. The Crook County School Board in Prineville, Oregon, did just that with nationally-renowned author Sherman Alexie’s National Book Award-winning young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The book [...]
The New Rochelle Board of Education announces that it will replace the 50 censored copies of Girl, Interrupted and that [N]o further modifications of this type, i.e., removal of pages, shall be permitted under any circumstances. It has always been the policy of the City School District of New Rochelle that students be advised in advance if a particular assigned [...]
Following Barney Rosset's National Book Award in November (and NCAC's honoring Rosset as a Free Speech Defender), Newsweek has published a long piece on Rosset, his work and his role in bringing new literature and thought to the American conversation. An excerpt: Before Rosset challenged federal and state obscenity laws, censorship (and self-censorship) was an accepted feature of publishing. His [...]
In a very strong letter to the Des Moines Register, parent Wendy Sontag defends keeping And Tango Makes Three in the Ankeny Public School libraries. She writes: Like the Russells, I consider myself a "values-conscious Christian parent." However it is clear that the Russells do not speak for me. My two bright, caring daughters began their academic careers at East [...]
Something is missing from the school lib in Round Rock, TX. Last week, school Superintendent Dr. Jesús Chávez pulled TTYL by Lauren Myracle from district middle school libraries. All of ‘em. That equals a book ban. A.k.a. censorship! The super and some parents think the book is just ‘trouble’. But that’s up to each student 2 decide 2gether with his [...]
The Book of Bunny Suicides by Andy Riley was challenged by one parent who wants the book removed from the library at Central Linn High School in Brownsville, OR. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board in support of keeping the book in the library.
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane was challenged for use in ninth grade English classes at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, MN. Some parents objected to sexual violence and graphic language in the book. NCAC and ABFFE wrote a letter to the school board, urging that the book be retained in the curriculum.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya was banned from high school classes in Newman-Crows Landing (CA) Unified School District. NCAC and ABFFE sent a letter to the Modesto Bee:
NCAC and ABFFE sent this letter to the Editors of the Austin American-Statesman in response to the removal of TTYL from middle school libraries. Re: “Round Rock chief removes contested book from middle schools” (November 19) To the Editors: We strongly oppose the decision of Round Rock ISD Superintendent Dr. Jesús Chávez to remove TTYL by Lauren Myracle from district [...]
Two parents challenged the picture book, And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for use in elementary school libraries in Ankeny, Iowa. The parents objected to the story of two male penguins who parent a chick because they say the book is not "age-appropriate". NCAC and ABFFE wrote a letter to the Ankeny School Board opposing the challenges.
TTYL‚ by Lauren Myracle was removed from middle school libraries throughout Round Rock (TX) ISD. One student's parents challenged TTYL‚ because they objected to sexual content and profanity in the book. Two review committees evaluated the book and recommended that it be kept on library shelves. However, before the school board could review the matter, Superintendent Jesús Chávez had the book removed from middle school libraries throughout the district. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board opposing the book's removal.
Irrepressible artwork from Indexed. The allure of big fuss.
Once again, picture-book penguins have come under fire. In Ankeny, Iowa, parents of one kindergartner want And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell banned from East Elementary School. At the very least, they want the book moved to a restricted section of the school library. Tango tells the true story of Roy and Silo, two male from [...]
Some parents have objected to sexual content, profanity, and violence in The Bluest Eye and Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in Burke County, NC, schools. The Kite Runner was reviewed (and subsequently approved for use in classrooms) in February 2008. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board regarding the challenges.
We were delighted to hear that the Sherwood, Oregon School Board voted last night to keep the novel, Grendel by John Gardner, in Sherwood High School’s 10th grade accelerated English curriculum. Some parents object to sexual content and violence in the book, but their children were offered a different book to read. Their views are not shared by all – [...]
Re: Sherwood School Board upholds use of novel Grendel (November 12) To the Editors: The Sherwood School Board should be applauded for its decision to keep the novel, Grendel by John Gardner, in Sherwood High School’s 10th grade accelerated English curriculum. Some parents object to sexual content and violence in the book, but their children were offered an alternative assignment. [...]
No. As The Birmingham News reports: According to the ALA's office for intellectual freedom, there were 420 documented attempts to ban books from libraries nationwide last year, and up to four times as many unreported attempts". What gets banned? "Topping the list typically are novels written for young adults, and fantasy books such as the Harry Potter series. The Potter [...]
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult was challenged by one parent who objected to sexual references, profanity, and violence, including bullying and suicide, in the book and asked that it be removed from the Beardstown Middle/High School library in Beardstown, IL. A committee comprised of teachers, a school principal, a librarian, and a school psychologist reviewed the book and recommended that it be retained in the high school adult fiction section of the school library. The school board voted to retain the book in the high school section of the library, but students are required to get parental permission to check it out.
Concerned with some of the language in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, a parent has challenged the book at Appomattox High School in VA. Though her son was given an alternative Steinbeck book to read, the parent still believes the book is inappropriate for other students and has asked that it be removed altogether from the 10th [...]
Objecting to racially sensitive language in the book, a parent has challenged Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn place in the 11th grade English curriculum at Manchester High School in Manchester, CT. The book is currently under review by the Superintendent's office.
Acting on complaints from a parent, Olentangy Ohio District Superintendent Scott Davis removed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones from Liberty High School's optional summer reading list. Visit the Columbus Dispatch for details. Below is NCAC's letter to Superintendent Davis. Click here to send him an email [...]
The book Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher, has become controversial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, because one of the stories contains the word "nigger." After a parent complained, the teacher was suspended and the book was removed from the schools, including the libraries. Controversy over racially sensitive themes and language is not new. For example, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is [...]
Dear Member of Texas State Board of Education, We write to express our concern about the proposed changes to the Biology Textbook under consideration for adoption by the Texas State Board of Education. We urge you not to adopt the changes proposed by the Discovery Institute, because doing so will undermine the presentation of information about evolution. At the public [...]
Resources Letter to Chairman Roy Hartz Protesting Soap Box Derby Censorship July 16, 2003 Roy Hartz Chairman, Board of Trustees All-American Soap Box Derby Dear Mr. Hartz, The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the organizations listed below are writing to protest efforts by the All-American Soap Box Derby to censor Melanie Payne's book, Champions, Cheaters and Childhood [...]
Newsday September 16, 2002 In the post 9/11 world, there is undoubtedly a government official whose job is to invent innocuous-sounding, if not reassuring, acronyms for government initiatives against terrorism. Operation TIPS is a case in point. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System will recruit millions of utility, transportation and other workers to report on "potentially unusual or suspicious [...]
It's fitting that one of the two books we've chosen to inaugurate the Free Expression Policy Project Book Page has itself become a target of censorship pressures.
A number of critics have taxed Not in Front of the Children with being insufficiently sensitive to the concerns of parents about sexual explicitness and graphic violence in popular culture. It's true that the book doesn't decry all the gross and offensive entertainment that is available—there is already a vast literature on that subject. My purpose instead was to stimulate [...]
Free expression won out when school superintendent Gary Feenstra withdrew most of the restrictions he had imposed on the use of Harry Potter books. Following the advice of an advisory committee, Feenstra agreed to put the books back in the elementary and middle school libraries and to permit students to borrow them without restrictions. He also agreed to permit classroom readings of [...]
Dr. Marvin E. Edwards Superintendent School District U-46 355 East Chicago Street Elgin, IL 60120 Dear Dr. Edwards, We write to urge you to reinstate Judy Blume’s novel, Forever, in the middle school libraries in District 46. According to recent news reports, the decision to remove the book, and the desire to keep it out now, are based on disapproval [...]
William J. Ivey, Chairman National Endowment for the Arts The Nancy Hanks Center 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20506-0001 Dear Chairman Ivey, We are writing to urge you to reconsider your decision to withdraw funding for The Story of Color, the Mexican folktale for children published by Cinco Puntos Press. According to press reports, the decision was based [...]
Most Americans - 93 percent according to a recent Freedom Forum poll - say they believe in the First Amendment. A recent incident in Hauppauge illustrates something else the poll revealed: Many Americans really don't understand it.
I write to express my serious concerns about your decision to remove three magazines from the Hauppauge Middle School Library. If press reports are accurate, as our inquiries suggest they are, removal of the magazines was precipated, in whole or in part, by a local religious figure who urged parishioners to object to them because they contain "information that goes against what we believe is the truth about sex as Catholic Christians."
LOS ANGELES TIMES Friday, October 17, 1997 The first round of papers has been filed in a federal appeals court in San Francisco challenging the constitutionality of the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996. At the same time, the new movie version of Vladimir Nabokov's book Lolita, starring Jeremy Irons, is opening all over Europe, even though it is not [...]
