Anatomy of a Book Controversy by Wayne Homstad - 1995

Bloomington Ind.: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1995. Ex-Library. Good +. Trade Papeback. 145 pp. Library stampings and card envelope on inside cover. Some crinkling of acetate on cover, binding reinforced with clear tape. Book still sturdy. Text clean. A high school English teacher examines a controversy that arose in 1987 in a midwestern school district, after a middle school teacher assigned the novel "Go Ask Alice" to her seventh-grade class. The novel, purportedly based on a teenaged girl's drug use problems recorded in her diary, had been challenged in at least 30 school districts as of 1987. This book describes one district's attempt to answer two basic questions: What should students read? and Who should decide what students read? The book controversy is first described chronologically and then from the perspectives of four individuals most involved in the controversy--the parent, the superintendent, the teacher, and the director. Data were obtained from interviews with 23 people directly connected to the controversy, a review of school district documents and newspaper accounts, and observation of committee meetings. Homstad finds that book review policies and procedures often result in de facto censorship. In this case, a review committee composed of parents and teachers cleared the book for use, but a school administrator overruled the committee. Size: 8vo -- 8 in Tall..