Several titles were removed from the Montgomery County High School curriculum last month due to complaints from parents. Among the yanked titles were Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Deadline by Chris Crutcher, Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles and Unwind by Neal Shusterman. The books were being read in conjunction with classics like Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales for accelerated English – you know, that old approach of pairing books you despise with ones you might actually want to read to make the experience bearable.

The books haven’t been entirely banned and remain in the school’s library. According to the school superintendent and the objecting parents, they are not trying  to censor the books, but imposing quality control – they maintain that the books don’t provide enough of an intellectual challenge and won’t prepare students for the rigors of college. Of course, the fact that the books cover topics like sex, child abuse and suicide doesn’t help.

The books are all on YALSA’s 2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers list.

“It’s not censorship when you make wise decisions about what can be used in the classroom,” insisted one of the parents.

On the alteration of teacher Risha Mullins’ curriculum, author Chris Crutcher has said, “we object to the disregard for educational expertise as strongly as we object to censorship and the trampling of free speech.” Crutcher says that in this case, as in most cases, the objections of the few control the choices of the many.

A censorship call disguised as an academic standards concern? Hmmm…

When in doubt, just assign an anvil-sized classic, preferably Russian. With any luck, the kids’ll learn to hate reading forever and then we won’t be faced with any more intellectual freedom challenges! Bravo!