Friday, September 26, 2014

Texas school bans seven 'obscene' books in banned books week

In the week dedicated to celebrating the right to read, a school in Dallas suspends works by Toni Morrison, John Green and others from classrooms

Sherman Alexie … ‘The real reason my True Diary gets banned? It’s about the triumph of a liberal Native American rebel.’ Photograph: Rob Casey
A school in Texas has chosen to mark Banned Books Week by suspending seven books from its classrooms, including works by Toni Morrison and John Green, after parents complained about their children having access to “obscene literature”.

As bookshops, libraries and schools across America took part in the annual celebration of the right to read, at Highland Park high school in Dallas, parents were making their concerns heard about content in books including Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Green’s An Abundance of Katherines and Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, reported the Dallas News.

Objections were raised to Pulitzer winner David Shipler’s non-fiction title The Working Poor, because it includes a reference to a woman who was sexually abused as a child and had an abortion. Narrated by a dog, Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain was criticised for a sex scene, and Alexie’s award-winning novel for its strong language. Also suspended were Jeannette Walls’s memoir The Glass Castle and Hermann Hesse’s classic novel Siddhartha.
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