Hi! As one of the parents who objected to the books on the summer reading list back in 2013...I'm going to gently push back a bit on you classifying that as "censorship."
I wasn't asking for the books to be removed from the library. I WAS questioning why a book (Prep) that had graphic descriptions of oral sex should be on a reading list for incoming 9th graders. My oldest child was entering 9th grade at 12 years old. Yes, I'm aware that she was one of the youngest children in her cohort, but is the difference between her age of 12 and 10 months entering 9th grade really significantly different from 13 and 5 months? I could be brought up on charges of moral corruption of a minor if I were to have shown her a film depicting the sex acts as described in the book. How is it appropriate for the school show it in literary form? To those who blame the parents for not being aware of the content of the book...there was NOTHING in the description of the book that was given to parents to indicate that the book had such graphic content. I've looked at book descriptions in multiple places, and none warn of that. What parents have time to pre-read every book that their children read? Certainly not me, who at that time had 5 children under the age of 13, several of whom were voracious readers.
It's a very hard line to tread when deciding what books to recommend at what age for sure. Barnes & Noble recommends “Prep” for ages 14-18. Bing's AI says "late high school." Dark Academia pans the book for promoting racial stereotypes, fat phobia, and a "heroine" who is unmotivated and far from being an inspirational character for the female readers like my daughter who were most likely to choose the book from that summer reading list.
Bottom line...I don't think it is censorship for parents to question if particular material is age appropriate. We SHOULD be having these discussions with people on the local level. Discussions about what should be promoted for summer reading is not the same as censorship. What we should not be having is people with no relationship with a particular school or library being able to throw the whole system into a tizzy by objecting to multitudes of books, and demanding they be removed from the library.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Jenn. I appreciate how thoughtfully you approach the issue. I do try to note in my remarks that the district does, as it should, have a process for individual district parents to raise concerns like yours in a re-evaluation of individual titles. I agree with you that the lines can be really tough to draw, and be dependent on individual families and kids, which is why I think folks with training and experience in making these calls (e.g. librarians) need to be central to the process. I also agree it would help a LOT if parents were given useful book descriptions-- particularly at the middle school levels. And thank you for highlighting the importance of discussion. I in no way mean to imply that books should never be discussed; maybe I could have been more clear about that in what I wrote. To be completely frank, though, in most of the instances where I've seen books challenged, I have not seen challengers particularly open to discussion in the way you are. And this is much much worse today than it was back in 2013, as organized pressure groups have taken the lead in these challenges. Which, happily, we both agree isn't helpful. ;) Once again, thanks for engaging on this issue, even all these years later.
Hi! As one of the parents who objected to the books on the summer reading list back in 2013...I'm going to gently push back a bit on you classifying that as "censorship."
I wasn't asking for the books to be removed from the library. I WAS questioning why a book (Prep) that had graphic descriptions of oral sex should be on a reading list for incoming 9th graders. My oldest child was entering 9th grade at 12 years old. Yes, I'm aware that she was one of the youngest children in her cohort, but is the difference between her age of 12 and 10 months entering 9th grade really significantly different from 13 and 5 months? I could be brought up on charges of moral corruption of a minor if I were to have shown her a film depicting the sex acts as described in the book. How is it appropriate for the school show it in literary form? To those who blame the parents for not being aware of the content of the book...there was NOTHING in the description of the book that was given to parents to indicate that the book had such graphic content. I've looked at book descriptions in multiple places, and none warn of that. What parents have time to pre-read every book that their children read? Certainly not me, who at that time had 5 children under the age of 13, several of whom were voracious readers.
It's a very hard line to tread when deciding what books to recommend at what age for sure. Barnes & Noble recommends “Prep” for ages 14-18. Bing's AI says "late high school." Dark Academia pans the book for promoting racial stereotypes, fat phobia, and a "heroine" who is unmotivated and far from being an inspirational character for the female readers like my daughter who were most likely to choose the book from that summer reading list.
I'm not as familiar with "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test," and why folks specifically objected to it being on the list in 2013, but Bing's AI says this one is appropriate for people over the age of 18. I'm curious to see how the film version, which is purportedly in the works, will be rated. https://deadline.com/2025/09/tom-wolfe-electric-kool-aid-acid-test-film-sony-atlas-ken-kesey-1236566457/
Bottom line...I don't think it is censorship for parents to question if particular material is age appropriate. We SHOULD be having these discussions with people on the local level. Discussions about what should be promoted for summer reading is not the same as censorship. What we should not be having is people with no relationship with a particular school or library being able to throw the whole system into a tizzy by objecting to multitudes of books, and demanding they be removed from the library.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Jenn. I appreciate how thoughtfully you approach the issue. I do try to note in my remarks that the district does, as it should, have a process for individual district parents to raise concerns like yours in a re-evaluation of individual titles. I agree with you that the lines can be really tough to draw, and be dependent on individual families and kids, which is why I think folks with training and experience in making these calls (e.g. librarians) need to be central to the process. I also agree it would help a LOT if parents were given useful book descriptions-- particularly at the middle school levels. And thank you for highlighting the importance of discussion. I in no way mean to imply that books should never be discussed; maybe I could have been more clear about that in what I wrote. To be completely frank, though, in most of the instances where I've seen books challenged, I have not seen challengers particularly open to discussion in the way you are. And this is much much worse today than it was back in 2013, as organized pressure groups have taken the lead in these challenges. Which, happily, we both agree isn't helpful. ;) Once again, thanks for engaging on this issue, even all these years later.