Parents call cops on teen for giving away banned book; it backfires predictably

[ZombieHorde]

Parents in Idaho called the cops last week on junior-high student Brady Kissel when she had the nerve to help distribute a book they’d succeeded in banning from the school curriculum.

The book in question was Sherman Alexie’s young adult novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” Published in 2007, it won the National Book Award and has become popular with young teens, supposedly for its universal themes of fitting in, making sense of race, and sexual discovery.

The sex part (and let’s face it—probably the race part) led parents to lobby Junior Mountain High School to remove it from the syllabus, citing its sexual content (it discusses masturbation) and supposedly anti-Christian content.

Local teens then started a petition to have the book reinstated. They collected 350 signatures, which is an impressive number of kids to rally around a cause like reading.

A great story. Read more at his link: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/219767/parents-call-cops-on-teen-for-giving-away-banned-book-it-backfires-predictably/

[immoderate]

1. If you want kids to read a book -- censor it!

--imm

[ismnotwasm]

3. Exactly

Dumbasses.

[Major Nikon]

6. The dipshits even provided free advertisement by calling the cops

[Warpy]

11. No kidding! It worked that way on me!

The Legion of Decency banned books list was my reading list when I was a kid.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. I GAVE my kids banned books from that list!

Neither of them grew up ..."normal".... which they are proud of today.

[Warpy]

32. Yeah, there was a lot of great stuff on that list

Burroughs, Miller, they were all there, dirty books that were also great literature.

[Kber]

17. My mom learned that lesson herself years ago

When her mother has to sign a permission slip allowing her to check out Grapes of Wrath. She read the whole list of "banned" books over the course of one year, and got an education of a lifetime.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

25. Don't tell them about the dirty parts of "Paradise Lost"

Shhh.....

Top Secret.

[penultimate]

2. That's awesome....

I hate the fact that there are still people in this country who think they can dictate what others do. I wonder how many of these "concerned parents" were behind the banning of the book, and the calling of the police to the event.

[HooptieWagon]

20. The OP doesnt cite the number,

But it appears the parents who called police are from the same group of parents that got the book banned.

[stevenleser]

4. From your title, I was afraid the police shot the teen.

Unfortunately, that is all too common these days when police are called on someone.

[Fawke Em]

21. That's EXACTLY what I thought, too.

Sad times we live in, huh?

[stevenleser]

22. Very sad. Seems every other day we see news reports the police are called by well intentioned

folks to help deal with a situation and the person on whom they called gets shot.

[uppityperson]

5. They tried to ban Sherman Alexie? hahahahahaha. Good job kids and thanks to Hachette for

the extra books.

For Duers, if you haven't read it, it is a fast and interesting read.

[FSogol]

12. Completely agree. Everything by Sherman Alexie is awesome. n/t

[KT2000]

7. Loved that book

I thought it would be inspiring for young people. All they got out of it was sex?
My guess is there was too much truth for the parents to handle.

[dickthegrouch]

8. I love that publisher provided even more copies

That's a classy operation, Hachette.
It looks like they have a very wide selection of titles, genres and topics. A publisher to support.

(I have no connection to Hachette whatsoever).

[snooper2]

9. yet another example of religion harming society

Everyone always wants examples-


This is fundies at work 101

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

33. Agreed.

[TlalocW]

10. Banning it = Raised interest

I remember living in Oklahoma in the 90s. Some religious nutjob got his panties twisted over, "The Tin Drum," being available in a library in Oklahoma City. He started a campaign to get it removed. It hadn't been checked out for years, and suddenly there was a waiting list to see it, and video stores also started renting it more. I had seen it in college as part of a theater appreciation class (easy class to get rid of a general ed requirement), and from what I remember, I wouldn't think the "naughty bits" would be worth sitting through the rest of the movie. Of course, we all have our different turn-ons, and I hated sitting through the movie in the first place.

TlalocW

[CBGLuthier]

18. your memory is slightly off. the Tin Drum case in Okc was a lot worse

They got a judge to rule it was child porn and the DA sent officers to video stores and to people's home to size copies of it. I had just watched it a few months before this all happened. Sine I !over in Okc at the time I always wondered what I would have done if they had come to my door.
Eventually another judge made the correct ruling.
BTW, the Tin Drum is on Hulu plus. It is a great film. Everyone should see it.

[jtuck004]

13. Sent her 350 new copies. Good Work! n/t

Last edited Tue Apr 29, 2014, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Oh, and kid...

The odds that the adults in your life know what you need to learn for YOUR future, beyond some writing, math, and exposure to philosophy, science, literature, music, modern auto mechanics, etc,are probably fairly small.

You keep following whatever it is you are following. You are doing well.

[MineralMan]

14. I like this girl a lot.

Good on her! And good on the kids who went to get their free copy.

Reading is a Revolutionary Act!

[gollygee]

15. I just bought this book yesterday

after hearing about this.

[cer7711]

16. Stephen King on Censorship:

Stephen King on Censorship

. . . my advice to kids would be: "Whatever it is that your parents and teachers don't want you to read is probably the thing that you need the most to find out." So I would find out what's been censored, what's been pulled from the shelves of your school library, and I would run to the nearest public library or to a bookstore and pick it up, whether it's Cujo, Lord of the Flies, or Lady Chatterley's Lover. Go get it and find out what they don't want you to know because that's what you need to know.
--Author Stephen King, in a videotaped interview, quoted here from War of Words: The Censorship Debate, edited by George Beahm, Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel (1993), p. 31.


http://censorfreelib.blogspot.com/2009/09/stephen-king-on-censorship.html

[Kber]

19. That book wad on the suggested summer reading list for my sons high school.

Interesting what gets some folks panties in a bunch

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. Adding a link

Derp Roundup: Idaho Parents Call Cops To Protect Children From Banned Book

[DiverDave]

24. If they wouldnt have said anything about the book

it would have been a low level thing.
Thanks dumbasses, you made it much larger.
Dumbasses.

[elleng]

26. Even police seemed to have no idea what they were doing there,

and let the book giveaway proceed as planned.

Not only did it go as planned, but when Alexie’s publisher Hachette got word of the incident, they sent Rediscovered an additional 350 copies on the house. So while the book may still be banned in the school curriculum, it’s available free of cost for any kid who wants to stop into Rediscovered and pick one up.

[yellowcanine]

27. "it discusses masturbation" Whoa.

[yellowcanine]

28. Stupid parents. Now even the kids who don't like to read bools will make sure they read that one.

Parenting 101. Choose your battles and don't test your kids by making up stupid rules.

[Capt. Obvious]

30. Ren McCormack approves

[KamaAina]

31. Good thing my friend who has written a young adult novel is in Hawai'i.

Way fewer fundie whackjobs there.



(and yes, the novel contains a sex part, and (gasp!) it's lesbian sex!! )