January 18, 2001

7:25 AM

Freaky Friday removed from schools for reviewA mother of a third grader at this school submitted two pages of objections to the book. HUH? It's Freaky Friday!!! (related link: American Library Association's 100 most challenged books of the last decade)
posted by Haveed (20 comments total)

Anderson said the passage teaches children to kill. "What do we have in schools now? We have a problem with guns, a problem with weapons," she said.

Anderson said the book uses words and describes behavior that would get kids in trouble if they mimicked it at school. "You can't smoke. You can't drink. You can't do drugs. You can't have sex. You can't kill people. You can't use bad words," Anderson said. "It's contradicting what we are teaching them."

This is one f-r-u-i-t-y lady.
posted by tiaka at 7:42 AM on January 18, 2001

Btw, at that 100 list, Where’s Waldo?
posted by tiaka at 7:52 AM on January 18, 2001

I don't know why schools systems do not do what many of them find works best: a teacher and school chooses texts. If a parent objects, the child of that family does not have to read the book but is given an alternative. Thus, one family does not decide for an entire school what should and should not be read. The parent "wins" and the school does what it believes is the correct thing to do.
posted by Postroad at 8:00 AM on January 18, 2001

Great. Now I'll have the refrain "I must! I must! I must increase my bust!" running through my head all day.
posted by evixir at 8:22 AM on January 18, 2001

But Anderson said she and her daughter, both active in church, were most concerned by a sentence that she says advocates violence.

Fine then...so let's remove the Bible off the shelves because it teaches people to kill as well.
posted by bkdelong at 8:39 AM on January 18, 2001

#51: A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein? Am I missing some subtle, symbolic evil in the poetry?

Okay, I can see Madonna's Sex as challenged, but James and the Giant Peach?

Can anyone explain?
posted by gramcracker at 10:36 AM on January 18, 2001

hey you know that deep southern logic - first the kids are readin' 'bout fruit, the next thing they're becomin' one...gotta pertect them yung'uns, bring 'em up right...
posted by DiplomaticImmunity at 10:40 AM on January 18, 2001

It's hardly unfair to just blame 'the south' for everything. I lived in Florida for number of years, there are lot of mefi users from the Tampa area as well as Florida. Just because the lady's a nutcase doesn't mean all of Florida or the south is.
posted by tiaka at 10:45 AM on January 18, 2001

err. fair.
posted by tiaka at 10:46 AM on January 18, 2001

Maybe so tiaka, but we do know Floridans don't know how to vote or count. :)

Seriously now, though. It's this kind of self-righteous BS that makes our world go backwards. I *hate* people that do things like this. This reminds me of how people try to ban video games and wrestling because they think it messes up their kids (do they ever consider it might depend on their parenting?). God, I don't want to rant so I'll just stop now, I hate those people.
posted by swank6 at 12:02 PM on January 18, 2001

You know, if only some strange metaphysical accident would occur, causing this woman and her daughter to switch bodies, not only would hijinks ensue, but important lessons about tolerance might be learned.
posted by varmint at 12:18 PM on January 18, 2001

gramcracker, I don't happen to agree with banning James and the Giant Peach--whatta great time I had reading that as a tot--but I can easily imagine why. One of the first things that happens (as I recall) when James enters the peach is that it promptly rolls over and crushes his horrid aunts that he's been living with. This made me cackle like mad as a little kid, but I can see where it would make some people woozy . . . like, say, horrid-auntish bluenoses.
posted by Skot at 12:40 PM on January 18, 2001

Sorry - a giant peach crushing a couple of old ladies is no reason to ban a book... Now, had said peach been a profanity-slingin' ax-wieldin' head-a-choppin-off'n peach, maybe...
posted by Haveed at 12:46 PM on January 18, 2001

Haveed: Yes, but keeping "James and the Giant Peach" on the stacks will encourage young hoodlums to grow Sleeper-size peaches and throw them at surly septuagenarians. And we can't have that, can we?

What next? Will we see gardening and genetic engineering books banned from school libraries for fear of the Giant Peach Party's political propaganda disseminating amongst the next generation of jaded youth?


posted by ed at 1:02 PM on January 18, 2001

But if we let em read this book, all the kids will find giant pieces of fruit and use them to crush or wound relatives!!! Yes, I could see how that would work...
posted by fvw at 1:09 PM on January 18, 2001

Apparently, with regards to the Where's Waldo banning, it seems that it was banned due to the presence of a topless sunbather in the upper right hand corner of the beach scene.

Interesting.
posted by TractorInc at 1:31 PM on January 18, 2001

Ahahaha, varmint, god I wish that would happen.
posted by swank6 at 1:45 PM on January 18, 2001

Hey, I just re-read The Chocolate War last night. Wacko... I recommend that everyone goes out and buys a copy of each of those books. I own eleven, and have read many more than that, but I reckon it's time to rustle up money for the other 89. They need a place to live.

As for the drinkin', smokin', cussin', fuggin' issue... I hope she doesn't let her kid watch tv. That'd be bad parenting.
posted by Neale at 9:50 PM on January 18, 2001

They never did hand out copies of the Old Testament, though. Wonder why.

Because one of the points of Fundamentalism is that the New Testament is the basis of Christianity, and that the most important thing to tell potential new believers is that individuals are saved by God's grace by faith in Jesus Christ, etc. etc. The Old Testament is interesting supplemental material, but not directly applicable to the Fundamental Protestant message.

Plus, it's cheaper to just hand out the short part. ;)
posted by daveadams at 8:43 AM on January 19, 2001