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 included testimony from Westview Elementary School Media Specialist Lauri Torseth, who examined the controversial word in the context of the story:
(the specialist) shared her thoughts about the value of the book in helping children who are having difficulty learning to read, like the book's main character Helen does, and concluded that the book should not be removed from school libraries. Torseth also shared comments from a conversation she had with author Barthe DeClements, who said she wrote the book "to give people comfort that learning to read is hard."
"The development of negative slang by youth is constant," Torseth said. "The issue here is less about the choice of the word the author uses than the stigma of the word toward people with developmental disabilities."
NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the review committee expressing similar concerns, along with explaining the overall educational and constitutional problems raised by removing a book due to content-based objections.