Alan Gratzin his book “Ban This Book” tells the story of a fourth-grade girl looking to return her favorite book to the school library after authorities removed it.
Late last month, a school district in Florida banned “Ban This Book”.
A parent member of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing parents’ rights group, filed a complaint about the book in February, alleging that it depicted sexual behavior and “taught children to be social justice warriors.” Although a school district committee recommended that “Ban This Book” remained on the shelves, the county school board Indian River voted to ban it last month.
On Wednesday, Gratz said to Washington Post that “Ban This Book” and some of his other titles had been challenged in the past, but he did not recall a ban of this magnitude. He learned of the restriction through an advocacy group, he said. The Tallahassee Democrat reported on the ban this week.
“The overwhelming irony of banning a book about banning books has been enough to keep people from banning it for a while,” Gratz, 52, told The Post.
The school board and its five members did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday night.
Jennifer Pippin, chapter president of Indian River, Fla.of Moms for Libertywho filed the complaint about “Ban This Book,” told the ThePost in text messages Wednesday that he wanted titles with “sexually explicit content” removed from schools. He explained that he filed the complaint about “Ban This Book” because it referenced other banned books with sexual content. Pippin added that parents could still access the book through public libraries and online book stores.
Gratz He said he wrote the book in 2017 to draw attention to challenges against the books, an issue he said was “relatively unknown” at the time. He recalled the religious objections to the series of Harry Potter for its depiction of witchcraft and challenges to the books of Junie B. Jones because their 5 year old main character had bad grammar.
“No one has the right to tell you what you can and can’t read, except your parents., and they should not have the ability to tell other parents what books their children can and cannot read,” she told The Post. “And that is the main message.”
In recent years, books have been caught up in the culture wars as school officials and lawmakers have fought over how to teach about race, history and sexuality in classrooms. Last year, 4,240 titles in U.S. schools and libraries were questioned, a 65 percent increase from the previous year, according to the American Library Association. Seventeen states attempted to restrict more than 100 titles each, including Floridawhere the Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation making it easier for residents to challenge books before limiting who could file challenges in April.
Pippin’s Complaint about “Ban This Book,” which follows a girl as she creates a library of lockers with banned titles, said the story was “inappropriate for unaccompanied minor children in schools.” In the complaint, Pippin cited pages from the book where characters mention other materials that reference sex.
The complaint was one of the 245 book challenges that Pippin has filed on behalf of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, wrote to The Post. She files complaints on behalf of group members to protect her safety, she said.
Two high schools and one elementary school in County Indian River They had “Ban This Book” on their shelves, according to Pippin’s complaint.
After the complaint of Pippin, a district committee reviewed “Ban This Book.” Most committee members recommended it be kept in schools, but the school board voted May 20, 3-2, to remove the book from shelves.
The member of the Kevin McDonald school board He said during the meeting that he disagreed with the review committee’s recommendation to keep the book. He said “Ban This Book” encouraged undermining district officials and promoted “inappropriate books.”
“I found it ironic that this book intentionally and openly says that school boards shouldn’t matter, only 9 year olds and librarians should matter.“, said.
By proposing a vote to remove “Ban This Book,” mcdonald He said the title was “offensive to a large segment of our parents.”
Gratzthe author, said the ban felt “inevitable” after years of following the stories of other books pulled or nearly pulled across the country.
“Doesn’t mean I want to accept it“, said. “It doesn’t mean he won’t fight it.”
Some of its titles have faced challenges before, he said Gratz. Last year, a high school in Pennsylvania canceled the reading of “Two Degrees”a book he wrote about climate change, after district officials questioned whether it was appropriate for students.
But the spectacle of banning a book about banned books brought new attention to Gratz and his work, said. He has spent the week fielding calls about the ban, she said.
With his books and others being pulled from school shelves, he said he was worried the message he was trying to share about the bans would be lost.
“I wish ‘Ban This Book’ didn’t need to exist as a book,” he said. “I would happily return it.”
(c) 2024, The Washington Post
