CdA school panel to advise against book ban

A committee that reviews school library books that some parents think are inappropriate will recommend the Coeur d’Alene School Board place no restrictions on two such titles.

The school board will hear the recommendations on “Fallen Angels” by Walter Dean Myers and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou at its meeting Monday.

The committee of parents, teachers, administrators, a librarian and a student hasn’t completed its review of three other titles that drew complaints by parent Mary Jo Finney, who has children in middle school and high school. Those books – “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier, “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson and “Beloved” by Toni Morrison – will be addressed later in the school year.

The recommendation will be presented to the board for informational purposes only. No vote is expected until the board’s next meeting in September.

“It’s too controversial to do that” yet, said Edie Brooks, chairwoman of the Coeur d’Alene School Board. “We’re going to take it slow and deliberate as much as we can.”

The five books under review are available at the high school libraries, but none is required reading. This isn’t the first time restrictions have been considered for “Fallen Angels,” a novel about a young man fighting in the Vietnam War that contains graphic language. Last year, the school board went against the recommendations of the review committee and placed a parental permission requirement on the book for middle school students.

The issue up for review Monday is whether “Fallen Angels,” as well as “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” should be restricted for high school students. The board placed a parental permission requirement for middle school students on “The Chocolate War” in 2003.

The five books are among the most challenged in the nation, according to the American Library Association.

Finney, fellow Coeur d’Alene resident Debbie Morris and their children have testified about their concerns over the books at board meetings, reading excerpts from the books and documenting passages they find offensive, including paragraphs about child rape and sentences using profanity and racial slurs.

“Violence at an early age is so damaging and desensitizing to these young minds,” Finney wrote in her complaint about “Fallen Angels.”

The committee’s recommendation says the book is already beyond its intended age level of middle school and that the issues “are content- and age-appropriate.”

“Coarse language in this war genre novel is part of the characterization to identifying with the characters and is not a focus for the students,” the recommendation reads.