Censorship Roundup

Buffalo, NY: The Williamsville County school board rebuffed an attempt by parents to remove Shade's Children by Garth Nix from the Transit Middle School library. The science fiction story centers on a world dominated by 'Overlords,' who harvest the minds and bodies of children to produce half-human, half-mechanical warriors. Parents launched a protest after a mother discovered her 11-year-old reading the book.

Fairfax, VA: The Fairfax County school board voted to remove Druids by Morgan Llywelyn from middle school library shelves after a Centreville Middle School parent objected to passages that describe an oral-sex scene and the main character's desire to rape women. The board voted to keep the book in its high school libraries. Following another objection the year before by the same parent, the board removed Daughter's Eve by Lois Duncan.

Henrico County, VA: The county school board is considering whether Mississippi Bridge by Mildred D. Taylor should be removed from the Donahoe Elementary School library. The parent of a nine-year-old girl who had checked out the book complained that it contained 'rough language for a fourth grader,' and that it was 'riddled with prejudice.'

Hernando County, FL: The county's school board voted four-to-one to keep Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers on its shelves, despite a challenge brought by a parent who said that words or deeds not permitted in the school should not appear in the pages of school library books. According to Brad Vogler, manager of the county's public library collections, that criterion would put most dictionaries in jeopardy.

School Library Journal encourages readers to send news of challenged books to prx-slj@reedbusiness.com.