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…
Category: Education
CBLDF Defends The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in Montana Victory
A Billings, Montana, parent’s crusade against Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ended after a packed school board meeting last night, during which the school board elected to retain the novel in area classrooms. CBLDF joined…
Parent to Appeal School’s Decision to Keep The House of the Spirits in Curriculum
This week, a review committee in North Carolina sided with the freedom to read when they voted unanimously to keep Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits in the curriculum, but the parent who filed the complaint against the book…
Pennsylvania School District Quashes Challenge to Curious Incident
Despite a recent challenge due to profanity, Mark Haddon’s critically-acclaimed novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will remain on a high school summer reading list in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, a parent…
Jimmy Gownley Joins Jeff Smith & Comics All-Stars For CBLDF’s Nov. 10 Benefit Brunch!
Jimmy Gownley, creator of Amelia Rules, will be on hand to sign advance reading copies of his soon-to-be-released comics memoir The Dumbest Idea Ever!, which will be given as a special gift to donors attending CBLDF’s Kids’ Right to Read…
Yertle the Turtle Quote Again Allowed in BC Schools
More than a year after a quote from the Dr. Seuss classic Yertle the Turtle was banned from classrooms in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a settlement has been reached allowing teachers to bring Yertle back to school. The ban arose…
TUSD’s Lift of Book Ban Draws Ire of Arizona Department of Education
After nearly two years of being banned from classrooms, the school board for the Tucson Unified School District voted to allow seven Mexican American Studies books back into classrooms as supplemental materials. The move received an immediate negative response from…
Massachusetts Library Survey Reveals Challenges to Comics
A recent exhaustive survey of challenges and bans of materials in Massachusetts public libraries has uncovered a few cases involving comics and graphic novels — as well as a major shortcoming in the state’s public records law, which allows libraries…
Using Graphic Novels in Education: Boxers & Saints
Welcome to Using Graphic Novels in Education, an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of banned books and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine books that have…
The Secret History of Comics Censorship
Researcher Carol Tilley revealed to the world that much of Fredric Wertham’s data supporting the “dangers” of comics were largely fabricated. Her evidence? Wertham’s own notes and papers. Recently, Tilley joined CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein and Abrams Comicarts editorial…