The New Zealand Book Council is dedicated to encouraging a vibrant reading culture in New Zealand. We are therefore delighted that the Film & Literature Board of Review has removed any age restriction or classification on the young adult novel Into the River by Ted Dawe.
The book has been subject to an interim ban which meant that a highly regarded, award-winning young adult novel was temporarily unavailable. This was pending a decision by the Board to place a permanent age restriction rating on the book.
Peter Biggs, Chair of the New Zealand Book Council said “Point 10 of the decision document noted that ‘The history of the book itself is now almost as fraught as the story of its central character.’ This reminds us that amongst all the drama surrounding the novel there is a wonderful story that tackles many of the issues which teenagers in New Zealand are dealing with today. The Book Council believes that reading changes lives and we want relevant and powerful stories to be available to readers everywhere. We are thrilled with the decision that the Film & Literature Board of Review has made.”
And from the publisher
Rating
Removal a Victory for Freedom of Expression
Penguin Random
House New Zealand is delighted that the Film and Literature Board of Review has
reached a majority decision that will allow Into the River to once again
be freely available to young readers in New Zealand. The Board’s decision to
uphold the removal of the R14 restriction by the Classification Office in
August will allow the book to be freely distributed in future and openly
displayed in libraries, especially school libraries, which we know play such a
valuable role in guiding young people’s reading choices.
The previous
R14 restriction imposed soon after Into the River won New Zealand’s
supreme award for children’s literature, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year
Award in 2013, has denied the book the exposure it so richly deserves.
Penguin Random
House has greatly appreciated the outpouring of support for our author Ted Dawe
and his excellent novel from within New Zealand and around the world. More than
50 submissions and emails in support of Into the River were received by
the Film and Literature Board of Review following the decision of the Board’s
President to impose an Interim Restriction on the book last month, preventing
it from being distributed within New Zealand.
Penguin Random
House New Zealand Managing Director, Margaret Thompson, said the company was
delighted the book’s intended audience will now be able to access the book
freely, as it grapples with important issues, including racism and bullying,
that are relevant to young New Zealanders today, particularly teenage male
readers. As acknowledged by the Film and Literature Board of Review Into the
River is ‘likely to inform and educate the intended readers about the
potentially negative consequences that can follow from involvement in casual
sex, underage drinking, drug taking, crime, violence and bullying’.
The Board noted
that the book served a useful purpose in ‘raising these issues for thought and
debate and creating a context which might help young adults think more deeply
about choices they may be called upon to make.’
Margaret
Thompson said Penguin Random House New Zealand was proud to be the publisher of
Into the River, a high-quality work of literature for young adults which
had won critical acclaim from some of New Zealand’s most respected writers and
literary critics.
‘The Board’s
majority decision is a victory for freedom of expression and the right of
authors and publishers to deal with the challenging social issues young people
face today in high-quality works of literature.’
In response to
the Board’s decision to uphold the removal of the R14 restriction by the
Classification Office Ted Dawe said ‘I am thrilled. It has restored my faith in
New Zealand’s legal system.’
Into the
River will continue to display a parental advisory warning on its cover to
assist parents in assessing its suitability for their child.
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