More on the Montgomery Co Book Rukus...

...and why the superintendent was correct

to throw out some of the books

In Montgomery County this week some parents complained that certain novels contained foul language and cover topics — including sex, child abuse, suicide and drug abuse — unsuited for discussion in coed high school classes. The superintendent removed some of the books from the college preparatory classes where they were being employed.

I'm opposed to book banning and censorship of any kind.

But being responsible for the care of children in loco parentis does impose a responsibility on school officials to use proper judgment. That judgment extends to the discussion of topics that some individuals may find objectionable. High school students are in need of critical thinking skills and the mature topics that present themselves on television, in the news, and in everyday life are appropriate for discussion with students of high school age.

Keeping some books away from some children is appropriate in some cases. Discussing abortion, rape or other potentially disturbing topics of a sexual nature - like adultery - with kindergarteners is likely to be inappropriate at any time. It's one of several reasons why the Ten Commandments should not be posted in our schools.

Four of the books in question are:

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Deadline, by Chris Crutcher

Lessons from a Dead Girl, by Jo Knowles

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman.

Superintendent Daniel Freeman has responded to the complaints by withdrawing about half a dozen of the challenged titles from classroom use. He was correct to do so, but not because the topics were objectionable to a few parents.

I haven't read any of the books in question so today in class, I asked my 103 students if they were familiar with the titles - and a few of them were. These college students laughed off the parents complaints as unnecessarily and overly protective. In fact, one student familiar with Montgomery County High School opined off-handedly that a typical student would run into worse in the hallways. But when I asked them about assiging these titles in a college preparatory class they laughed again.

Are they easy? Real easy.

Twisted has a lexile rating of 680L - or fourth grade text level !
Deadline's lexile rating is 880L - or sixth grade text level
Lessons from a Dead Girl's Lexile of 620L (third grade) is not likely to challenge any college bound student.
And Unwind's 740L is fourth grade difficulty.

Too easy.

Lexile text measurement is typically used by teachers to compare text readability with the ability range of their students. This allows teachers to forecast how well students will comprehend the particular text.

These texts were designed for reluctant readers. That usually means high interest level, low reading level. The books may well be appropriate for some high schoolers, particularly freshmen. But as a means to prepare students for the rigors of higher education, I think not.

Freeman was correct to remove the books; not for their content, but for the lack of rigor.

Book Ruckus divides Montgomery County residents

This from Jim Warren at the Herald-Leader:

A dispute over books at Montgomery County High School has embroiled parents, teachers, students and others over the past several months, extending to authors and censorship groups at the national level.

The continuing ruckus revolves around contemporary, young-adult novels that have been used in conjunction with classical works like The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and the epic poem Beowulf in some sophomore and senior accelerated English classes.

Some parents have complained that the novels contain foul language and cover topics — including sex, child abuse, suicide and drug abuse — unsuited for discussion in coed high school classes. They also contend that the books don't provide the intellectual challenge and rigor that students need in college preparatory classes.

Montgomery County School Superintendent Daniel Freeman has responded by withdrawing about half a dozen of the challenged titles from classroom use.
However, students can still find them in the high school library, and they remain available through a student book club...

The parents' complaints were not stated in religious terms, as sometimes can be the case. It's a good thing. Because if books were banned based on the concerns listed it would pretty much eliminate the Bible. H-L Columnist Paul Prather said it rather well:

A group of parents protested the books — which weren't required reading, but were available for students who chose to read them — on the grounds they were morally unfit for high school students. The novels apparently portray teenagers who are struggling with dysfunctional families, sexual desire and thoughts of suicide.

Dysfunctional families? Teen sex? Suicide?

I initially assumed the parents were trying to ban Romeo and Juliet. Or the Bible.

Jessamine County book banners, Sharon Cook and Beth Boisvert were recently fired for withholding books from circulation that they found objectionable.

The books being challenged in Montgomery County include:

• Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Deadline, by Chris Crutcher
• Lessons from a Dead Girl, by Jo Knowles
• Unwind, by Neal Shusterman.

The titles appeared on suggested book lists compiled by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, for 12- to18-year-olds who are "reluctant readers."

They don't allow 'bazoongas' in Kindersley

School library bans children's book

VICTORIA - Battle of the bazoongas? Or merely a tempest in a D-Cup?

A popular Victoria children's author is crying censorship after a southwestern Saskatchewan school banned her novel, Trouble on Tarragon Island.

At issue is the book's reference to "bazoongas" as a slang word for breasts. The librarian who pulled the novel at Elizabeth School in Kindersley also objected to a mention of "saggy" breasts and a description of a bullying incident.

"I certainly view this as censorship," said Nikki Tate, 45, an award-winning writer of novels for young people. "I deliberately stayed away from crude language."

Wayne Parohl, principal of the school before retiring a few weeks ago, said he does not view the situation as censorship, adding the librarian deemed it inappropriate for younger readers at the school, spanning kindergarten to Grade 7. The librarian could not be reached for comment.

Trouble on Tarragon Island has sold almost 3,000 copies since its 2005 release and is nominated for three book awards. Other school libraries across North America have carried it without complaint.

The book is about a girl who is horrified when her grandmother joins Ladies of the Forest, a radical protest group aiming to save old-growth trees.

Their lobbying efforts include posing for semi-nude photos that appear in a calendar. These images attract taunts from schoolboys who use the word "bazoongas."

The heroine, Heather Blake, thinks: "What they say about my grandmother is true. She does have generous bazoongas, and all of Tarragon Island has seen them."

This from the Edmonton Journal.