Banning Books

[llbriteyes]

A small list of books (and a movie) that were challenged last year in the U.S. due to concerns about their content.

The Devil's Storybook by Natalie Babbitt
The Devil: Opposing Viewpoints (Great Mysteries) by Thomas Schouweiler.
Parents of a 14-year-old boy asked the Washington Township (NJ) school district to remove from school libraries these and other books about the occult, which they blamed for their son's interest in Satanism and self-mutilation. They formed a group with 20 other parents called National Concerned Citizens for Youth to campaign for circulation policy restrictions for teenagers. When the school district voted to keep the books on the shelves, an area resident organized a candlelight vigil in support.


Deenie by Judy Blume
A parent of a Spring Hill (FL) Elementary School student requested Blume's coming-of-age novel be removed from elementary school libraries because it made reference to masturbation. Blume defended her book, saying that what parents may find offensive might not bother kids. The school district decided to retain the book, but require parental permission for students to borrow it.


Eat Me by Linda Jaivin
After a Marion County (FL) library system patron complained that Jaivin's novel about women and their sexuality was obscene, Library Director Julie Seig ignored the recommendation of her staff and pulled it from the shelves. The library board voted her decision down, She kept the book on her desk for several weeks afterwards. After she finally returned it to the stacks, an outraged local resident began reading parts of the book during a Marion County commissioners meeting, declaring that if his grandson ever checked the book out of the library, he would make it a "personal" issue with the staff.


Walter the Farting Dog by Glenn Murray
Former West Salem (WI) School District board member Maynard Carlson asked the board to remove Murray's story of a dog with flatulence problems from his grandson's elementary school because of its excessive use of the word "fart" (24 times). While the board had a meeting to consider his request, Murray said the book ultimately remained in the stacks.


Horses by Juliet Clutton-Brock
A parent of an eight-year-old student at Smith Elementary School in Helena, MT, challenged the presence of Clutton-Brock's book about horses in the school's library because it supported the theory of evolution. Helena's school district recommended the book remain on the shelves, but the parent who raised the challenge has requested the school add a book about creationism to its library collection.


Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Mathabane's autobiography about growing up under apartheid was removed from a Jay County (IN) High School English class reading list because of its passages about child abuse and violence in South Africa. Kaffir Boy was also removed from the Hephzibah High School senior literature reading list after a 12th grader complained to his mother about a sequence where men asked starving boys to exchange sex for food.


The Captain of Her Heart by Anita Stansfield
The author, known as a leader in Mormon fiction, was unable to get her romance novel published because the main character has sex out of wedlock. After she formed her own company to release the book, two Mormon retailers refused to carry it.

1776, a film by Peter Hunt
Fairfax County (VA) School Board banned the movie version of the musical 1776 because of sexual innuendo between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. School social studies coordinator Sara Shoob said, "There's some innuendo and language, and when you're talking about the Declaration of Independence, that does not have to be part of your discussion."


King & King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Parents of a seven-year-old requested that the children's book about a prince who falls in love with another prince be removed from the Freeman Elementary School in Wilmington, NC. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) supported the parents, saying "This is another attack on morality by the extreme left." Also, a mother of two was surprised to find King & King and Judith Vigna's My Two Uncles in a public library in the Mid-Columbia Library District (WA). She has asked that the books be moved to a separate section in the library.


A Child's Life by Phoebe Gloeckner
Stockton, CA, Mayor Gary Podesto called on the city council to make area libraries safer for children after an 11-year-old checked out a book for adults about child abuse. He called it a "how-to book for pedophiles."


Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
The book, whose plot hinges on two Chinese teenagers stealing a suitcase of books banned by the government during the Cultural Revolution, contained a passage about a virgin having sex. The superintendent of the Federal Way (WA) school system pulled the book from school reading lists after the mother of a 15-year-old student complained. The school board has asked schools in the district to submit reading lists for approval, and wrote up a policy explicitly forbidding sexually explicit materials in schools.



Pinkerton, Behave by Steven Kellogg
An Evanston, IL, mother was disturbed by the image of a burglar holding a gun to the head of the mother in Pinkerton, Behave, a book about an unruly dog who saves his family from being robbed. Her request that the Evanston Public Library Board remove it from the stacks was voted down 6-0.


America by E.R. Frank
The school board in Twin Bridges, MT, voted to keep E.R. Frank's novel about an abused child in the high school library. A teacher had challenged the book, saying that it was too graphic, but the committee that recommended the board keep it said, "Abuse cannot be painted with a pretty picture."


The Natural by Bernard Malamud
The mother of a 16-year-old petitioned the Central Valley (WA) School District to take The Natural off the 10th reading list because of its passages about making out, skinny dipping and female breasts. "All books and knowledge are not of the same value," the parent said to the school board. "Some are uplifting and move us to become better individuals. Other knowledge is degrading, filthy and damaging to the character."


Urban Legends by N.E. Genge
A woman whose granddaughter checked Urban Legends out of the public library in Simms, LA, threatened to burn the book because she objected to the chapter called "Crazy Little Thang Called Sex." The library reported that they had a second copy of the book available in the stacks.


One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte
The Ansonia (CT) Public Library removed Lipsyte's coming of age novel from the shelves of the middle school reading section after the mother of a 10-year-old found in the book a description of a masturbation fantasy. In addition, local school officials removed the book from the summer reading list.


Alice the Brave by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Saying "This kind of book scares me," the mother of a Mesquite, TX, fifth grader requested Pirrung Elementary to remove Alice the Brave from the library because of its descriptions of sex and the protagonist's obsession with her widowed father's relationship with her teacher.


Deal With It! by Esther Drill, Heather Mcdonald, and Rebecca Odes. The Gilbert (AZ) High School library pulled gURL.com's self-help book for pre-pubescent and teenaged girls because the mother of a 16-year-old student protested. "It's basically pornography and it's just awful," the parent told the Arizona Republic.


Ricochet River by Robin Cody
Two parents of Clackamas (OR) High School students requested the school remove Cody's coming of age novel from its reading lists because of its profane language and passages about teenagers having sex. One mother also found it to be degrading towards women.


Helping Your Child Learn History from the US Department of Education. Lynne Cheney, wife of the vice president, protested the publication of this educational pamphlet because it referred to the National Standards of History, which she opposes. In response to her complaint, the Education Department destroyed over 300,000 copies of the publication.



Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Parks
A couple who asked the Centennial Elementary School of Fargo, ND, to remove Mick Harte Was Here from the library plan to appeal to the Fargo School District a review committee's decision to keep the book on the shelves. They had objected to the use of the words "damn" and "suck," as well as references to birth control pills and eating disorders.


Diamond Dogs by Alan Watts
The Speight Middle School library in Wilson, NC, pulled Watt's novel about a high school football player who kills another student in a drunk driving accident. The parents of an 11-year-old student complained about the book's passages describing sex between the main character and his girlfriend.


America (The Book) by Jon Stewart and The Daily Show
Wal-Mart cancelled its order of the civics textbook parody from the popular news satire because it "didn't meet their criteria" on sexually explicit material, according to the book's publisher. In a section on the Supreme Court, America features a photo doctored to look like the justices of the Supreme Court are naked. Wal-Mart continues to sell the book online, saying that internet users are different than in-store shoppers. Daily Show executive producer Ben Karlin responded, "We were hoping to be banned by a lot of mom-and-pop bookstores, but they keep selling the book."

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[schsa]

Geesh, and let's not let our kids see any movie that has adults kissing or two married people having sex, but if you want to shoot people and blow them up, go for it. I have never understood book banning. If you don't want your child to read it, then don't let your child read it but don't stop me from encouraging my child from reading and reading and reading. Books take you to places that you cannot go on your own. You many not always be thrilled about some of the contents but if the story is good, the story is good.

And BTW I have read and seen 1776 and what are they talking about when they say that Jefferson and Adams had some sort of homosexual undertone to their conversation are really reaching for it.

And your teenagers can have sex but they can't read about it. So why have sex education? Why have biology? Heck, why not go back to segregation of the sexes and why don't all women wear veils so that no one will get the wrong idea.

Sometimes people are so backwards. If you don't want your kid to read something, then don't let your kid read it.

[JKATHERINE]

I, too, have never understood book banning. It has got to be one of the lamest things I've ever heard about in my life and usually comes about when close-minded people (who, half the time haven't even read the entire piece of literature) have a little too much time on their hands....

Two words: VERY SAD.

[Victorious]

If you don't want your kid to read something, then don't let your kid read it.

While I agree with you, I think this statement is easier said then done. I would have to read every book my child[ren] read before they could read to make sure it's age appropriate. I couldn't possibly do that. I don't think that banning books is the way to go but I do think a permission slips is a good idea.

oh and I don't think a public library should remove any books but I do think that the media specialist for an elementary school should pick out books that are better suited for elementary aged students. As for highschoolers some of these "kids" could probably teach me a thing or two.

[llbriteyes]

Agreed on all counts.

[Jolie Rouge]

Gay penguin book shakes up Ill. school
By JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 17, 6:47 AM ET

SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children — and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.

The concerns are the latest involving "And Tango Makes Three," the illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own.

Complaining about the book's homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book — available to be checked out of the school's library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis — tackles topics their children aren't ready to handle.

Their request: Move the book to the library's regular shelves and restrict it to a section for mature issues, perhaps even requiring parental permission before a child can check it out.

For now, "And Tango Makes Three" will stay put, said school district Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw, though a panel she appointed suggested the book be moved and require parental permission to be checked out. The district's attorney said moving it might be construed as censorship.

Filyaw considers the book "adorable" and age appropriate, written for children ages 4 to 8. "My feeling is that a library is to serve an entire population," she said. "It means you represent different families in a society — different religions, different beliefs."

Lilly Del Pinto thought the book looked charming when her 5-year-old daughter brought it home in September. Del Pinto said she was halfway through reading it to her daughter "when the zookeeper said the two penguins must be in love."

"That's when I ended the story," she said.


Del Pinto said her daughter's teacher told her she was unfamiliar with the book, and the school's librarian directed the mother to Filyaw.

"I wasn't armed with pitchforks or anything. I innocently was seeking answers," Del Pinto said, agreeing with Filyaw's belief that pulling the book from the shelves could constitute censorship.

The book has created similar flaps elsewhere. Earlier this year, two parents voiced concerns about the book with librarians at the Rolling Hills' Consolidated Library's branch in the northwest Missouri town of Savannah.

Barbara Read, Rolling Hills' director, has said she consulted with staff members at the Omaha, Neb., and Kansas City zoos and the University of Oklahoma's zoology department, who told her adoptions aren't unusual in the world of penguins.

She said the book was then moved to the nonfiction section because it was based on actual events. In that section, she said, there was less of a chance that the book would "blindside" someone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061117/...ns_book_flap_7

[Jolie Rouge]

P. S., these books are sick!
Queens parents riled over raunchy sixth-grade lit
BY RACHEL SCHEIER and CARRIE MELAGO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Sixth-graders at a Queens school were getting quite an education - in homosexuality, French kissing and cursing - thanks to three books widely available in classroom libraries.

But after numerous complaints from parents at Public School 150 in Sunnyside, the books - a profanity-laced poetry book, short stories about homosexuality and a novel called "First French Kiss" - were pulled from the shelves last week.

Several parents learned of the racy books after overhearing their kids snickering about the sexual themes.

The poem "I Hate School" in a book called "You Hear Me?" includes the rhyme, "F--- this s---, up the a--. I don't think I'll ever pass."

Another poem compares eating an orange to having sex, while several passages repeatedly use vulgar slang for genitalia. And the book "Am I Blue?" is an anthology of stories about gay teenagers that parents found too adult-themed for 11- and 12-year-olds.

Parent Gladys Martinez wrote a letter to her son's teacher after hearing him talk about "First French Kiss," which chronicles a teen's bumbling first makeout session in a closet. "I mean, he shouldn't be sheltered from the world, but if he's going to learn that stuff, it shouldn't be at school," Martinez said.

Parent and leadership team member Michael Novak said the books, which are labeled "young adult" by the New York Public Library, are "material that is totally inappropriate for sixth-graders."

Principal Carmen Parache said she had not reviewed the books until she received complaints but said they were "definitely inappropriate." She said classroom materials would be more carefully screened in the future. "As soon as I saw them, I pulled them and they are no longer in the school," she said. "This is something that shouldn't have happened and it will not happen again."

"You Hear Me?" was suggested for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders by the Columbia University Teachers College's Reading and Writing Project because it is the only anthology with poems written by minority teenagers, said Lucy Calkins, its founding director. "It's a tricky balance to walk so we are putting books in their hands that they'll want to read," said Calkins, who had not seen the language in the book.

Ava Myint, 11, said she heard some boys in her class laughing and talking about the books. "Maybe they're okay for some kids, but some of the boys are really immature, so maybe they shouldn't be allowed to read them," she said.

Originally published on December 7, 2006

New York Daily News - Home - P. S., these books are sick!

"You Hear Me?" was suggested for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders by the Columbia University Teachers College's Reading and Writing Project because it is the only anthology with poems written by minority teenagers, said Lucy Calkins, its founding director.

So the quality of the writing doesn't matter if it reached a quota ?

How about hosting a contest for writings by minority teenages with a cash prize and publication in a new book instead of settling for trash ?

[Jolie Rouge]

WVa parents target Pat Conroy books
By JOHN RABY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Nov 7, 12:39 PM ET

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Graphic depictions of violence, suicide and sexual assault in two Pat Conroy books are at the heart of a First Amendment debate, pitting offended parents against high school students who object to being told what they can't read.

Even Conroy has interjected himself into the debate. In an e-mail to a student, Conroy slams those who would ban his works as "idiots."

A student group is vowing to sue the Kanawha County Board of Education if the removal of "Beach Music" and "The Prince of Tides" from two Nitro High School classes is made permanent and expanded countywide.

In a move that appeased neither side, the board decided Monday to explore using advisory labels on books that show content for violence, language, sexual content or adult situations.

The book challenge is one of hundreds reported to the American Library Association every year on requests to have materials removed from schools or libraries, including the popular Harry Potter series, which some Christians believe promotes witchcraft.

Steve Shamblin, who teaches honors and Advanced Placement courses at Nitro High, said the graphic depictions in Conroy's books are found in newspapers every day. He also noted that several literary groups have deemed the books as age-appropriate for high school upperclassmen. "As long as we stay in a 1950s utopian mind-set, we're not going to get past the 20th century," he said.

Parents Ken and Leona Tyree found certain scenes in "The Prince of Tides" "obscene and offensive." Leona Tyree said she was unable to finish the book. Their son has since left Shamblin's Advanced Placement literature class.

Another parent, Karen Frazier, complained about violence in "Beach Music," and told school board members last month she wants guidelines for books used in public schools. "If a teacher was on a computer and sending this filth to underage students, they'd probably be arrested," Frazier said at last month's meeting.

Neither Frazier nor the Tyrees have listed phone numbers.

Makenzie Hatfield, who teamed with fellow students to form a coalition against censorship, said her group is prepared to go to court if the school board sides with the parents. "This is a college class," said Hatfield, a senior at Kanawha County's George Washington High. "We chose to take this class. The school didn't tell us to. We chose."

Conroy did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press, but defended his books in an e-mail to Hatfield. Because the two books were temporarily banned "every kid in that county will read them, every single one of them. Because book banners are invariably idiots," Conroy wrote in the letter published Oct. 24 in The Charleston Gazette. "They don't know how the world works — but writers and English teachers do."

Conroy referred to the books as "two of my darlings, which I would place before the altar of God and say, 'Lord, this is how I found the world you made.'"

He said his late father fought in three wars and turned violent on his wife and seven children; his youngest brother committed suicide; a female relative was raped; eight classmates at the Citadel were killed in Vietnam, and his best friend died last summer in a car accident. "The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out," he wrote. "I've been in ten thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and women had to give."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/...OsMMp_O2oXIr0F


Sounds like I will be making a trip to the library

[janelle]

Well la de da. Don't parents have any say so when it comes to raising their kids anymore? It would be different if they were abusing them but saying I don't want that book to be read by my kids isn't a criminal offense.

The kids can read any book they want when they turn 18. Go get every book that has ever been banned and read them all.

Parents have no say anymore about raising their kids in some circles. Follow the money. Authors want to sell books and get them on library shelves. Some do not care about age appropriate. And what is age appropriate to one parent isn't to another.

[Jolie Rouge]

Parents Ken and Leona Tyree found certain scenes in "The Prince of Tides" "obscene and offensive." Leona Tyree said she was unable to finish the book. Their son has since left Shamblin's Advanced Placement literature class.

I think this parent took the right tack - she removed HER child from the class. I don't think it is her right to tell me what books MY child should or should not read by requesting that they be "banned". As you say, what is age appropriate to one parent isn't to another.

[ilovecats]

I think this parent took the right tack - she removed HER child from the class. I don't think it is her right to tell me what books MY child should or should not read by requesting that they be "banned". As you say, what is age appropriate to one parent isn't to another.

I agree.I think in high school you are old enough to read any book you want.