NCAC joined forces with author Cory Doctorow earlier this year to intervene on a challenge to his book Little Brother in Pensacola, FL. The following article by NCAC Executive Director Joan Bertin, featured on Doctorow’s Boing Boing website to kick off Banned Books Week 2014, discusses the book banning epidemic that always seems to sweep the nation as kids go [...]
Last Friday, NCAC and a number of other organizations devoted to free speech considerations in education, drama, and literature sent a letter to the South Williamsport Area School District calling on them to reverse their cancellation of Monty Python's Spamalot, which had been called off due to "homosexual themes." As we sent out the letter, we learned that Dawn Burch, [...]
UPDATE: We've just heard that, in apparent retaliation for speaking about the cancellation of the play, drama teacher Dawn Burch, has been just fired. Stay tuned for action alert and letter to the school board. In a letter sent to the South Williamsport Area School District today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression, the [...]
Sex-Ed was always and will always be the proverbial Catch-22 of every pre-teenager and teenager’s education. They want to know about their bodies: how it works, what’s in store for the future, and whether what they are going through is normal. But we need to face the facts: it’s an awkward subject that no one wants to discuss. Luckily, author [...]
NCAC has proudly signed onto the list of 13 Necessary and Proportionate principles, part of a global effort led by our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on mass surveillance. This week marks the one-year anniversary of the drafting of the principles. The list of principles proposes a set of guidelines that governments around the world should adhere to if [...]
The parent of a Waukesha School District high school student has requested that The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher be removed from the district’s libraries, insisting that both novels should be restricted to adults over age 18. This is not the first time that the Waukesha School District has been attacked by parents claiming [...]
The brother of an incoming senior in New Eagle, PA has formally requested the removal of the award-winning dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood from the Ringgold High School summer reading list, complaining about the novel's “adult nature” and “grossly inappropriate conduct.” The board’s vote to suspend the book was mitigated by the August 12 decision to rescind the book’s [...]
Two weeks ago, NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project and other organizations sent a letter to the Cape Henlopen school district in Delaware expressing serious concerns over the removal of Emily M. Danforth's award-winning novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post, from a summer reading list for the high school's college prep and honors classes. This week, we enlisted the aid of [...]
A parent in Waukesha, WI has formally requested a district-wide ban on John Green's award-winning and beloved novel Looking For Alaska, reportedly claiming the book is "not suitable for teenagers." It's worth noting that the book won the American Library Association’s prestigious Michael L. PrintzAward, which is given annually to “the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit.” [...]
Update July 30: The school board has voted 6-1 to eliminate the entire summer reading list for incoming students at Cape Henlopen High School. Rather than reinstate Cameron Post, they will " return to the district's previous summer reading requirements, which demand college preparatory students read one book for the summer and honors students read two books," according to Delmarva Now. Update [...]
Update 7/16: Paper Towns has reappeared on the latest version of the John Long Middle School summer reading list! Previously: NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project has expressed concerns over the removal of John Green's award-winning novel Paper Towns, from the 8th grade summer reading list at John Long Middle School in Pasco County (FL). A parent who objected to sexual content and references in the book expressed her concerns in an email to a member of the school board, who in turn forwarded the message to school officials on Friday, June 20. By the following Monday, the book had been removed from the reading list, even though the objecting parent did not request the book’s removal, but merely complained because she had not been alerted to its content.
NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project has sent a letter to the Murray Independent Schools district in Kentucky regarding the decision to remove the novel UnWholly from 7th grade reading at Murray Middle School, and the ongoing conversation about book challenge policies and how they are implemented in the district. The parent of a student complained that the book’s content [...]
In a letter sent today, NCAC’s Kids’ Right to Read Project expressed concerns over the cancellation of Cory Doctorow's novel Little Brother, as the assigned text for Booker T. Washington High School's school-wide summer reading program. The letter points out that "the book was selected after an extensive process by the professional staff", yet the program was cancelled despite "no formal [...]
No lie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian will likely face another challenge, this time in Brunswick County, North Carolina, where the The Color Purple was challenged earlier this year. NCAC sent a letter in the Color Purple case and the book was ultimately kept. A formal challenge has yet to be filed regarding Absolutely True Diary, though NCAC sent the below [...]
NCAC's Youth Free Expression Project sent a letter to the Newfound Area School District warning of the "constitutionally suspect" dissolution of a high school student film club. The official reason for disbanding the club was its supposed failure to advance "student performance in core academic subjects like reading and mathematics” or “complement their regular academic program.” But in conversation with [...]
District 196, serving the Rosemount – Apple Valley – Eagan regions near the Twin Cities, has announced that the committee convened to decide whether the book Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You should be retained in the district's libraries has voted 10-0 to keep the work. A parent challenged the book for the use of the word "retarded" in the story. The review process [...]
Update: The book as been retained. Click here for details on the decision. Barthe DeClements' award-winning Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You has been challenged for a school library removal in Rosemount - Apple Valley - Eagan Public Schools (District 196) near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. A parent filed a complaint over the use of the word "retarded" in the [...]
According to Fauquier.com, a Fauquier County Public Schools review committee has unanimously rejected a book challenge that would have removed David Levithan's Two Boys Kissing from the high school library. NCAC's Kids' Right To Read Project sent a letter to the school board prior to the meeting, warning that removing the book based on objections to the content was a disservice [...]
NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project has sent a letter to the Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware to warn against labeling Aldous Huxley's 20th Century classic Brave New World as potentially "inappropriate" for some Advanced Placement English students, as has been proposed by school board members. Though no one on the board has yet proposed that the book be removed [...]
Though no student was required to read it and a committee of educators and citizens voted it should stay, the Board of Trustees of Meridian Public School District in Idaho still suspended the use of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Instead of giving books a scarlet letter, school boards should encourage teachers to explain to parents how and why they select certain materials and what educational purposes these materials serve for their children. F
In public comments on Virginia's State Department of Education website and in a letter to board members, NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project asked the Board of Education to reject a proposed amendment that would force schools to notify parents any time "sensitive" materials are used in the classroom.
A student-led petition sounded the alarm: no new books could enter Muhlenberg classroom libraries without being "rated" for mature, sexual, violent or religiously offensive content. A letter from NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project sheds light on concerns over such ratings.
The Brunswick County School Board voted 3-2 not to remove The Color Purple after a formal complaint about its content by a member of the county government. In a letter, NCAC and partner organizations argued that removing the book would have an adverse effect on students' education.
On Monday, NCAC joined with other organizations on an friend of the court brief (.pdf) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Barnes v. Zaccari, an important case involving the speech rights of college students. The case began in 2007, when Hayden Barnes was expelled from Valdosta State University in Georgia over his vocal criticism of [...]
In remarks at last night's school board meeting, Teton School District Superintendent Monte Woolstenhulme called for the immediate reinstatement of Bless Me, Ultima. The book was suspended from classroom use with no process or review.
Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novel Neverwhere has been returned to classrooms in Alamogordo, New Mexico, after the approval of a review committee and worldwide protest that included a letter signed by CBLDF! District spokesperson Doyle Styling talked to Karyn M. Peterson with the School Library Journal: “[Neverwhere] did go through a review process and it was found to be educationally suitable, balanced, and age-appropriate for high school students.” The book has been on district required reading lists since 2004, but it had not been challenged until parent Nancy Wilmott recently complained over content she deemed inappropriate for her 15-year-old daughter. Wilmott took exception to language and what she called “sexual innuendo” in the book, claiming that “This is rated R material, and she cannot get into a rated R movie.” The book was removed from classrooms during the review period, but it remained available in the library, a move that was openly supported by AHS principal Darian Jaramillo. Wilmott cited one passage in her complaint, which appears on p. 86 of the paperback edition of the book and reads as follows: A late-night couple, who had been slowly walking along the Embankment toward them, holding hands, sat down in the middle of [...]
NCAC and partners sent a letter to the Billings School District on Monday defending Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The book is taught in 10th grade classrooms. At a well-attended school board meeting this week, many supporters of the book spoke out in its defense.
The superintendent at Bordentown Regional School District [in New Jersey] made a public statement that “religious music should not be part of the elementary program[s]” and decided to ban religious Christmas music during winter concert performances at elementary schools within the district [...]
If you’re like us, the recent removal of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere from Alamogordo Public School classrooms has caused you to feel anything from confusion to just-plain-no-way-you-can’t-be-serious anger. Now you can take action: A parent in Alamogordo has started a petition on Change.org … Continue reading →
In the middle of a unit on Harper Lee’s classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird, students at Belle Chasse High School in Lousiana were informed they wouldn’t be finishing the book. Apparently, their teachers told them, the book is banned. … Continue reading →
The news that Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere had been challenged in classrooms in Alamogordo, NM, caused local and national outcry. This week, the district announced that the book is 'educationally suitable, balanced and age-appropriate' and that it would continue to be used.
TXBBQ&A will be an interactive roundtable discussion about the real, relevant state of censorship in Texas. The conversation will center on Texas schools and values, books in prison, freedom of the press and the right to read. 9/26, free and open to the public. Part of Banned Books Week 2013!
Ten days after the Randolph County School board voted to have the book removed, Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man' is back on library shelves and in classrooms following a second vote.
Popular YA novel Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell will remain on school library shelves in Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools, after a committee unanimously voted to retain the book. The book came under fire in July 2013 when it was selected as the county's "Rock the Read" book for summer reading.
The Cumberland County school district cancelled a talk about bullying by author Meg Medina because of the title of her most recent book, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. The book's title are the first words the main character hears her first day of school, kicking off bullying that will plague her throughout the year.
The Currituck County School Board voted 4-1 on October 14 to keep Tanya Lee Stone's "A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl" in the high school library. We urged the district to follow the recommendation of its review committee and keep the book in a letter last month.
The Adams 12 School Board voted to settle a challenge to Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' in Advanced Placement literature classes. The board voted in support of the superintendent's decision, not outright banning the book but approving such great restrictions as to make the book impossible to teach.
School's out for the summer, but there's no vacation from book challenges. The Kids' Right to Read Project is battling a handful of censorship cases, including a push to remove The Bluest Eye from Advanced Placement courses in Adams County, Colorado. Find out more about the latest battles...
