[CALIBK12] Novel about suicide pulled from elementary school library - some other info

[Rob Darrow]

Hi Everyone - As the coordinator of school libraries in Clovis, I thought I
would share what happened with the book, *Face at the Edge of the World* by
Eve Bunting in Clovis Unified.  In case you missed the various postings on
CALIB or missed the article that appeared in the Fresno Bee on Nov. 16, you
can read it here:  http://www.fresnobee.com/609/story/1016674.html.

First, I am currently reading this book, which was a CYRM winner in 1989 in
the Young Adult category (
http://www.californiayoungreadermedal.org/winners.htm#1989).  From what I
have read so far, I can tell you that it is a well written and poignant
book.  Within the first few pages of the book, I was drawn into the story
(perfect for high school boys).  The first eight pages reveal the suicide of
Charlie Curtis, a senior in high school who hung himself in his family's
garage.  The next several chapters describe how Charlie's best friend, Jed,
is consoled by his girlfriend and how they both are handling their loss.

Needless to say, this book was removed from our elementary school library
because it just was not appropriate for that level and it ended up in this
elementary school library by mistake (none of the other 31 elementary
libraries had this title in their collections).  We do have this title in
our intermediate and high school libraries where this subject matter better
fits.  Interestingly enough, this book had been in this elementary library
collection for close to 10 years and the fourth grade student chose this
book because it had high point value for Accelerated Reader (we could have a
big discussion about selection and AR, but at this point, it won't do any
good).

As any of you who have been in the school library business for awhile can
attest, these things happen despite having selection guidelines in place.  I
can recall several books that I ordered for my intermediate school library
based on positive reviews.  However, when a few of these books about
sensitive subjects arrived, some of them had much more graphic language than
was appropriate for my school and I returned them to the publisher.  In
talking with several people at the CSLA Conference, they have had similar
book selection happenings as well.

Secondly, it is also important to note how this article appeared in our
local newspaper. The parent talked with the library tech at the school who
referred the parent to the principal.  The parent left a message with both
the principal and assistant principal, but neither were available to return
her phone call or meet with her at that moment in time.  Before either the
principal or assistant principal could return the parent phone call, the
parent had emailed the principal, all of the district school board members,
the superintendent, the local newspaper (Fresno Bee) and one local TV
station with excerpts from the book.  So, the principal of the school never
had the chance to resolve the issue at the school level.  Our district does
have guidelines for selection and a reconsideration policy in place.  I
believe the parent has now been made aware of this policy.

As an aside, as soon as the article broke in our newspaper, I created a
"Google alert" to see where this article ended up (
http://www.google.com/alerts).  It was amazing to me that within 24 hours,
this article appeared either in print or on the websites of newspapers in
Georgia, South Carolina, Oregon, and New York.

This has been a learning experience for our school and library staffs in
Clovis.  Thanks to everyone who has offered their suggestions regarding book
challenges such as this.  If you have further suggestions or thoughts, feel
free to email me.

P.S. the CSLA Conference was outstanding!

Thanks,
Rob
Rob Darrow, Coordinator School Libraries, Clovis Unified.
robdarrow74 at gmail.com
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