The superintendent of schools in Wallingford, Connecticut, is doubling down on his decision to overrule a review committee’s recommendation and remove Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower from the district’s curriculum. After receiving local and national criticism for…
Tag: north america
CBLDF Joins Growing Opposition to Perks of Being a Wallflower Ban
Following last week’s news that the Superintendent of Schools in Wallingford, CT had removed Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower from the curriculum despite a review committee recommendation to keep it, CBLDF has joined with five other members…
Sherman Alexie: Censorship Sends Book Sales Rocketing
Nearly a year after his book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was temporarily banned from a supplemental reading list in a Boise-area school district, Sherman Alexie last week spoke before a capacity crowd of 800 at the…
Rio Rancho Public Schools to Observe Challenge Policy for Palomar
Good news out of Rio Rancho, New Mexico: Despite a school district official’s initial assessment last month that Gilbert Hernandez’s Palomar was “clearly inappropriate” for a high school library collection, it has been confirmed that the district will follow its…
Four Decades Later, Anarchist Cookbook Still Haunts Author
In a recent article for Harper’s Magazine, Gabriel Thompson took an in-depth look at the fascinating history of one of the most controversial books in recent memory: The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell. The 1971 how-to manual for everything from…
Happy Freedom to Read Week, Canada!
This week our neighbors to the north are celebrating Freedom to Read Week! Much like Banned Books Week in the U.S., this is “an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which…
Cape Henlopen Board to Review Summer Reading Policy
The Delaware school district that eliminated an entire summer reading list in July amidst confusion over how to handle a challenge to one book is now considering adding a month-long review period for parents or others to bring up any…
Florida School District Bedeviled by Satanic Coloring Book
The school district in Orange County, Florida is feeling the heat as it considers whether to allow distribution of a Satanic coloring book and fact sheets in schools. The Satanic Temple submitted the literature after the district allowed a Christian…
Ender’s Game Retained in Mesa County Curriculum
The sci-fi novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card will not be banned from the curriculum in Colorado’s Mesa County Valley School District, a review committee decided with an 8-1 vote last week. The book, which is read and discussed…
Ohio School District Considers Challenge to Freedom Writers Diary
The Parkway Local School District in northwest Ohio last week formed a committee to consider a challenge to the collaborative memoir The Freedom Writers Diary after the father of a high school freshman asked that it be banned from classrooms.…