Censorship Roundup

Cartersville, GA: The Bartow County Board of Education is considering whether to remove several books from all district schools following a March 15 complaint by the local religious group, Crusaders for Christ, that the books use profanity and "take the Lord's name in vain." Among the books the group considers offensive are Of Mice and Men (Covici-Friede, 1937) by John Steinbeck, The Martian Chronicles (Doubleday, 1950) by Ray Bradbury, and A Raisin in the Sun (Random, 1959) by Lorraine Hansberry. In the past, county curriculum committees have approved all challenged books, but the current committee has decided to read all the books again before voting on whether any should be removed.

Daphne, AL: Due to a parent's challenge to Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon (Knopf, 1977), Daphne High School will now require that a department head or administrator read every novel it purchases before adding it to the school's collection. Solomon, which had been assigned to a sophomore college-preparatory class, was challenged by a parent for having sexually explicit images, including an incident of necrophilia. Although the book is on the Alabama Department of Education's list of approved books, Assistant Principal Mike Lucci says that after reading the book, he has "reservations" about keeping it in the collection.

Helena, MT: The Helena Public Schools' materials review committee recently voted to keep the Eyewitness Book Horse (DK, 2000) by Juliet Clutton-Brock on the shelves of Smith Elementary School's library, despite a formal complaint by parent Roxanne Cleasby that the book promotes evolution as scientific fact. Cleasby, who says she wants her daughter to have the freedom to choose between creationism and evolution, has also urged district officials to include books in its collections that promote creationism.

Renton, WA: Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been restored to the supplemental 11th-grade reading lists in three Renton high schools. The Renton School District removed the book from its lists last spring, after a complaint from student Calista Phair, 17, and her grandmother, Beatrice Clark, that the book uses the word "nigger." Since the complaint, a committee of language-arts teachers has developed a set of guidelines for teaching the book.

Wilmington, NC: A picture book about two princes who fall in love, marry, and kiss has been removed from the Freeman Elementary School library and placed in a location accessible only to parents. A committee of teachers, parents, and community members decided that King & King (Tricycle, 2002) by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland should be moved after parents Michael and Tonya Hartsell objected to the book's homosexual content.