10 Books CBLDF Helped Defend in 2017 (So Far)

In 2017, CBLDF has been busy battling book challenges, unconstitutional legislation, and more in defense of the freedom to read. In recognition of Banned Books Week, here’s a rundown of some of the books we’ve defended so far this year.

1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle

Location of challenge: Marshfield, Wisconsin

A parent in Marshfield, Wisconsin filed a challenge to Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, saying that high school students “deserve better” than a book he describes as “full of foul language, and explicit and disturbing materials.”

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2. Stuck in the Middle, edited by Ariel Schrag

stuckinthemiddle

Location of challenge: Del Crest Middle School, Oklahoma

An Oklahoma middle school pulled the comic anthology Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age off of shelves after one parent called it “trash” and complained of vulgarities, sexual references, and drug use in some of the stories. The school claimed that a review committee was formed, but board meetings reveal no further discussion of the book. A search of the district’s library catalog shows that the book is no longer part of the collection.

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3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

Locations of challenges:

  • Yamhill-Carlton School District, Oregon
  • Vinton County High School, Ohio

CBLDF joined the Kids’ Right to Read Project to send a letter protesting the removal of Rainbow Rowell’s novel Eleanor & Park from the eighth grade curriculum in the Yamhill-Carlton School District in Oregon. The school board ignored its challenge policy when it voted to ban the book in January, but later backtracked and agreed to form a review committee as the policy requires.

CBLDF also joined the Kids’ Right to Read Project in defending Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park, which has been removed from classrooms in Vinton County High School in Ohio.

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4. Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman

wpid-jacobs-new-dress.jpg

Location of challenge: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina

CBLDF joined a Kids’ Right to Read Project-led coalition to protest the removal of Sarah and Ian Hoffman’s Jacob’s New Dress from a first grade anti-bullying program in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina.

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5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner

Location of challenge: Gilbert, Arizona

CBLDF this week joined a coalition of free-speech organizations objecting to the abrupt removal of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner from the curriculum of Higley Unified School District in Gilbert, Arizona. Although students in Honors English 10 have read the book for several years, administrators allege that it was never officially approved for use.

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6. Sword Art Online: Aincrad by Reki Kawahara and abec 

Sword Art Online: Aincrad Vol 1

Location of challenge: Jerome, Idaho

CBLDF took the lead in defending the manga volume Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad after it was challenged at a middle school in Jerome, Idaho. A review committee unanimously voted to recommend that the book remain in the Jerome Middle School library.

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7. Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

absolutelytrue

Location of challenges:

  • Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin
  • New London-Spicer Schools, Minnesota
  • Thousand Oaks, California

The use of Part-Time Indian at Sauk Prairie High School in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, was questioned during a school board meeting for what one parent called “shocking words of profanity, sexual innuendo and violence.” Another parent quoted out-of-context passages as evidence of the novels unsuitability for classrooms. Another parent argued that she’s not an advocate of banning books, “but I cannot believe in the history of the written word that there is not a more appropriate, more suitable, more acceptable book than this one.” The complaint triggered a contentious review of the novel.

A pair of parents of New London-Spicer Schools 8th graders challenged the acclaimed novel, citing “gratuitous and unnecessary” profanity and reference to sexual acts as reasons for offense. Despite being offered an alternate assignment for their children per school policy, the complainants argue that their children are being punished and that the book should instead be removed from the curriculum.

CBLDF signed on to a letter from NCAC’s Kids’ Right to Read Project, urging the Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks, California, to expedite the approval process for Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to be used in the 9th grade curriculum. The process has stalled after one school board member objected to language and sexual references used in the book.

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8. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

ThirteenReasonsWhy

Location of challenge: Stone Lakes Elementary, Florida

After a Florida elementary school pre-emptively banned students from bringing personal copies of Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why onto campus, CBLDF yesterday joined with other members of NCAC’s Kids’ Right to Read Project in urging principal Bryan Dolfi to reconsider.

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9. This Day in June by Gayle Pitman

this-day-in-june

Location of challenge: West Chicago, Illinois

The public library board in West Chicago, Illinois voted 6-1 to retain the LGBTQIA-themed children’s picture book This Day in June by Gayle Pitman in the children’s section. A West Chicago couple had challenged the book, implying that it promoted “GLBT and sex bondage” to young readers.

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10. I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings

Jazz

Location of challenge: Rocklin, California

A public charter school in Rocklin, California is defending a kindergarten teacher’s choice to read the picture books I Am Jazz and Red: A Crayon’s Story out loud to her students in order to help them understand a classmate’s gender transition.

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Help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work in 2017 by visiting the Rewards Zonemaking a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!