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Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Six books forbidden, 10 restricted by schools across state

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PULLMAN -- Sex, profanity and religion were the main reasons books were challenged or banned in schools across the state, according to a study by AccessNorthwest at Washington State University.

The survey of 185 school districts found that in the past two school years, there were 34 book challenges by parents or community members. Ten books were restricted and six banned from the schools.

Banned books were physically removed from the library or classroom. Restricted books remained but could not be accessed by all students or were not freely available on the shelves.

Only one book was challenged more than once. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain was challenged for profanity in the Easton, Tacoma and Renton school districts. Only the Tacoma School District restricted use of the book.

The survey found that 11 challenges dealt with profanity, nine with religion and seven with sexual content. Five books were challenged over whether they were age-appropriate; two were questioned over violence.

Of the six banned books, three were in one district -- Northport, along the Canadian border north of Spokane.

Parents there expressed concern about inappropriate language and sexual content in three poetry books: "Do You Hear Me?" and "Things I Have To Tell You," edited by Betsy Franco-Feeney, and "Paint Me Like I Am" by WritersCorps.

Each book is a compilation of poetry written by teens, and dealt with issues of growing up and adolescence. The Northport School District felt the books contained too much sexuality and violence, and banned all three from its libraries.

Religion was also cited in some challenges, and usually the content was viewed as anti-Christian. That included content on the occult or witchcraft, such as the Harry Potter series.

But in Tukwila, Muslim students challenged "The Inferno" by Dante Alighieri because of the Christian doctrine and because of a reference to the prophet Muhammad being in hell. After a review, the district decided to keep the book.

Book challenges were about evenly split between Eastern Washington and Western Washington.

Elementary schools in Spokane faced the most frequent book challenges, four in all. Parents of elementary students complained about sexual, violent, frightening and evolution-related content in four books.

Of the 296 school districts in the state, 62.5 percent participated in the survey last summer and fall.

BANNED OR RESTRICTED

List of books in Washington state school districts in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years, with author and school district:

BANNED:

"Do You Hear Me?," Betsy Franc-Feeney, Northport

"Paint Me Like I Am," WritersCorps, Northport

"Things I Have To Tell You," Betsy Franco-Feeney, Northport

No title available, Davenport

"Collection of Books," Bill Myers, Anacortes

"Fallen Angels," Walter Dean Meyers, Eastmont

RESTRICTED:

"Snow Falling on Cedars," David Guterson, Peninsula

"Prayer for Owen Meany," John Irving, Peninsula

"Grendel," John Gardner, Peninsula

"Brain Gym," Paul E. Dennison & Gail E. Dennison, Tekoa

"Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress," Dai Sijie, Federal Way

"The Face on the Milk Carton," Caroline B. Cooney, Federal Way

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Mark Twain, Tacoma

"Of Mice and Men," John Steinbeck, Lake Washington

"Crazy Horse Electric Game," Chris Crutcher, Woodland

"What Do You Say Dear?," Sesvle Joslin, Spokane

OTHER CHALLENGES:

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou, Mary Walker

"Give a Boy a Gun," Todd Strasser, Oak Harbor

"It's Perfectly Normal," Robbie H. Harris & Michael Emberly, Quincy

Biology Text, Quincy

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Mark Twain, Eastmont

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Mark Twain, Renton

"The Beach," Alex Garland, Wenatchee

"The Inferno," Dante Alighieri, Tukwila

"When I was Puerto Rican," Esmeralda Santiago, North Thurston

"Reading Mastery," level 1, SRA, Orchard Prairie

"The Natural," Bernard Malamud, Central Valley

"The Mandala Project," Bailey Cunningham, Anacortes

"Nightjohn," Gary Paulson, Bethel

"Harry Potter" series, JK Rowling, Bethel

EMC Literature Series, None, Bethel

"Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World," N.E. Thing Enterprises, Spokane

"My Very Own Book About Me," Lutheran Social Service of Washington, Spokane

"Our City Spokane," Marcia O' Neill and Nancy Gale Compau, Spokane

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