Final Word on Vamos a Cuba

According to School Library Journal, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear arguments to overturn a decision by the Miami-Dade School District that took Vamos a Cuba off of public school library shelves. This means that the decision of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stands.

Opponents of the book described it as factually inaccurate because it "paints too rosy a picture of life in the communist nation."

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week declined to take up the case of the controversial book by Alta Schreier, letting stand a 2–1 decision earlier this year by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the school board's decision to remove the book was not censorship in violation of the First Amendment. Instead, the Atlanta-based appeals court said the school board was seeking to remove the book because it contained substantial factual inaccuracies. Vamos a Cuba is one of a series of books on various countries in the world written for children aged four to eight.

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones movie is scheduled to be released in January 2010. According to Books Challenged or Banned in 2007-2008 by Robert P. Doyle, The Lovely Bones was "moved to the faculty section of the John W. McDevitt Middle School library in Waltham, Mass. (2008) because its content was too frightening for middle school students."

American Banned Books Week

Just a quick reminder that the American Library Association Banned Books Weeks runs from September 26 − October 3, 2009. Check out the little drama created by Puppet Book Banners.

US Book Challenges Mapped by Location

Check out the 2007 - 2009 challenges to books, mapped by location. These have been recorded on the Banned Books Week website.

This map is drawn from cases documented by ALA and the Kids' Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Details are available in ALA's "Books Banned and Challenged 2007-2008," and "Books Banned and Challenged 2008-2009," and the "Kids' Right to Read Project Report."

To Pull, Ban or Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is being pulled from the Grade 10 English curriculum at Brampton's St. Edmund Campion Secondary School following the complaint of a parent over the use of the n-word. The classic book depicts a southern US lawyer's struggle against racial injustice.

Bruce Campbell of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board made this statement concerning the issue: "The school administration was aware of the parent’s concern and made the decision to use another board-approved resource that teaches the same concept for the coming year." Campbell added, "The principal elected to select an alternative text for the fall, it would have been in response to the concern but at the same time it's not a banning. We're definitely not in the business of censure or book banning."

Just the same, the literary community has been critical.

The Toronto Star has published author Lawrence Hill's opinion. He points out that the real problem with To Kill a Mockingbird is "it's just one story, from another country, long ago." While he sees great value in the book, he points out that this book which explores the issues of racism, segregation and the experiences of black people, does not even focus on black people. It explores racism from small town Alabama over half a century ago. Hill suggests that Canadian students do not know the "Canadian stories of slavery and abolition, and of segregation and civil rights." He suggests that To Kill a Mockingbird should be kept on the shelves but be joined by Canadian books that explore the issues.

I wonder why school officials have to wait for a challenge to a book to review the literature students are studying. Why can't there be a more deliberate effort to have the black Canadian voice heard without making the removing/banning of a book the central issue?

A Milestone for Us

Today our counter hit over 100,000 hits and 150,000 page views since we installed Sitemeter. Thank you to our faithful readers and to Meg Cabot, who, with one mention had us shut down as a spam site for a day as our stats spiked.

Challenged Canadian Authors

I was challenged by John Mutford, a regular reader of the blog to come up with some Canadian titles which have been banned or challenged. Here are some titles which you can use as part of the Canadian Book Challenge.





A number of Robert Munsch titles have been challenged.

Margaret Lawrence - Stone Angel, Diviners
Margaret Atwood - Handmaid's Tale
Mordecai Richler - Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
W. O. Mitchell - Who Has Seen the Wind
Alie Munro - Lives of Girls and Women, Runaway
Barbara Smucker - Underground to Canada
Deborah Ellis - Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak
Timothy Findley - The Wars
W. P. Kinsella - Dance Me Outside
Yvon Deschamps - Tout Deschamps
Mike Pearson - Waging War from Canada
Michelle Marineau - L'ete des Baleines
Derek O'Brien - Suffer Little Children

For a list of books which have been banned or challenged in Canada (but not necessarily written by Canadian authors), check Freedom to Read resources.

Happy reading John.