[jabberwock_11]

People tend to have knee jerk reactions when they see or hear that a book has been removed from somewhere for any reason.

The fact of the matter is this: the book was NOT banned, it was NOT removed from the school, it WAS simply taken off of a reading list. Books are removed from reading lists all of the time for various reasons (sometimes they are simply not relevant any more or too difficult to relate to) and no one says a word.

The kids are perfectly free to read the book if they decide that they want to. If the book has merit and is worth the effort then it will do just fine off of the reading list. Let's face it, most kids hate HAVING to read specific books anyway. I know I always liked books much more when I had the option of reading them rather than being told what to read. Dismantling a book chapter by chapter and discussing what imagery the author was using or what certain paragraphs REALLY meant always annoyed me more than anything.

Freedom of speech is a two way street folks, if you want to be free to say or write it then you have to allow that some folks are going to want to not hear or read it. The school board took the path that they felt most comfortable with. It is not the end of the world and it does not mean that the book has suddenly become inaccessible.