Johnston hunting for books to remove

School officials pull one found offensive

After banning a popular coming-of-age tale, Johnston County school officials are scouring library shelves for other potentially offensive books to remove.

The district review was prompted by a parent challenge to "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents," which was removed from school libraries and classrooms this fall. The novel by Julia Alvarez has faced challenges in at least four districts nationwide for its sexual content and profane language, though national observers knew of no other district where parents succeeded in having it banned.

It has not been challenged or banned in other Triangle districts, though it is in several high school libraries across the region and is taught in at least one Durham school.

Compared by some to a modern "Little Women," the book recounts history and social change through the eyes of four sisters from the Dominican Republic growing up in New York City. Objections to the book include a number of sexual scenes, including one involving a sculptor and a statue of the Virgin Mary, as well as profanity and references to drug use.

In the wake of the Johnston challenge, the school board asked administrators to check all of the books in high school libraries and classrooms against lists of commonly challenged books to weed out other offensive material. Several organizations compile these lists, including the American Library Association. The review is likely to last months.

"I don't think that kind of literature should be in our schools," said Fred Bartholomew, who was chairman of the board when it made the decision in October.

Anthony Roberts of Four Oaks initiated the challenge to "Garcia Girls" after his 15-year-old daughter showed him passages from the book, assigned reading for her English class at West Johnston High School. In the challenge, Roberts and his wife said the book promotes sexuality among teenagers and is "filling their minds with filth and profanity." Asked what they thought its theme was, they replied "pornography."

"She brought it to our attention and was very uncomfortable with the content of the book, and we agreed with her," Roberts said of his daughter.

His daughter was given an alternative assignment, but the Robertses continued to press for the book's removal. A school committee denied their request, but a district committee reversed the decision.

A right to opt out

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association's Office of International Freedom, said such challenges are often brought by parents who read excerpts of a book out of context, without considering the work's overall merit.

"We support a parent's right to opt their children out of assignments," she said. "But their objections shouldn't deny other children and young adults the opportunity to read those novels and to grapple with them in their English classes under the guidance of a teacher."

Johnston requires teachers to clear book choices through school libraries, particularly if they have not been used, said Keith Beamon, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The district review is intended to ward off future challenges, he said.

Beamon said an appearance on a list of challenged books won't necessarily lead to a book's removal. "We would look at it," Beamon said.

Many districts are scrutinizing the choices of teachers and librarians as challenges to books and movies become more common, said Vinetta Bell, an English and language arts consultant for the state Department of Public Instruction. Bell cites a renewed focus on morality and religious values as one reason for the jump. Another, she said, is the broadening of school reading selections beyond the work of well-known white, male authors of the literary canon.