John Green’s Looking for Alaska was briefly removed from middle school classroom reading collections in Lumberton Township, New Jersey, this week, but was soon reinstated by Superintendent Joe Langowski who says he has “learned much” from the ban — namely,…
Tag: classroom
CBLDF Joins Coalition Protecting Right to Read in NJ School District
In response to an online petition calling for the removal of Ariel Dorfman’s play Death and the Maiden and Bernard MacLaverty’s novel Cal from the curriculum at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School in Rumson, New Jersey, CBLDF today joined with…
High School Reading Assignments Challenged in Illinois, New Jersey
Banned Books Week is barely over, but book challenges continue around the country! Today we got word that Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was pulled from a high school English class in Mattoon, Illinois before students could…
13 Free Speech Victories for Banned Books Week 2015!
This year, CBLDF and its partners in anti-censorship advocacy have seen a dramatic increase in book challenges compared to last year. Fortunately, in most of those cases we and local free speech fighters have prevailed! Here are some free speech…
12 Challenged or Banned Summer Reading Books for Banned Books Week 2015!
In the past two years, we’ve seen a veritable explosion of challenges and bans to books assigned as summer reading in middle school, high school, and even college. Moreover, in many cases school districts or administrators seem unsure as to…
IRONY ALERT: Downers Grove Council Approves Would-be Censor for Library Board
The village council of Downers Grove, Illinois, an affluent suburb of Chicago, on Tuesday approved the appointment of a would-be book banner to the town library’s board of trustees. Local attorney Arthur Jaros Jr. led a failed 1999 attempt to…
Teachers Take Advantage of CBLDF’s Comics Connector!
Earlier this year, CBLDF launched the Comics Connector program, which puts educators and librarians in direct contact with their local comics industry professionals. From comics creators to publishers, the program is designed to help teachers and librarians find people to…
Charleston Principal Removes Some Girls Are from Summer Reading List
Based on a complaint from one parent, the principal of West Ashley High School in Charleston, South Carolina has removed Courtney Summers’ novel Some Girls Are as an option on a summer reading list for freshman Honors English. Although Charleston…
North Carolina Review Committee Unanimously Recommends The Kite Runner Stay in Class
Despite a mother and former school board member’s contention that The Kite Runner is inappropriate for a 10th grade Honors English class, a district-wide review committee in Buncombe County, North Carolina unanimously recommended last week that the school board allow…
Crafton Hills College Stands By Graphic Novel Course
Facing the wrath of the Internet, Crafton Hills College affirmed yesterday that it will not be “eradicating” any graphic novels from its English 250 course as 20-year-old student Tara Shultz and her parents demanded last week. The Shultz family disagrees…