Saturday, October 2, 2010

Anonymous complainer wants SLO High to consider book ban...

That's the name of the article, by Colin Rigley, posted on the New Times website on September 29th:
[Mark] Mathabane wrote about his experience in an autobiographical account of South African apartheid, Kaffir Boy. However, due to an anonymous complaint about a passage in the book in which Mathabane describes how some children would prostitute themselves for food, San Luis Obispo High School has begun a review process that could potentially remove Kaffir Boy from the school’s curriculum and its library. The book was listed as the 39th most challenged book by the American Library Association, which is protesting bans during Banned Books Week now through Oct. 2.
 How can an autobiographical account be considered unsuitable for younger audiences?  If one child had to go through a distressing situation, then why should others not read about how he was able to get through it and become an author, using his story to help others?

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