Mississippi School District Pulls "To Kill a Mockingbird" from Shelves

A Separate Peace was about boys at a boarding school, during WW2 I believe, and one of them decides they need to 'train' to be ready to enlist. Phillips Exeter was the model for the school, I think.



Sorry your teacher sucked at teaching the Scarlet Letter - mine definitely did not let it be boring. We had some animated conversations about sexism, stereotyping, and symbolism.

Guessing from your list of books you prefer white macho male angst. Have you read The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber?

I have not. And I don't think any teacher could have made me enjoy The Scarlet Letter.
 
I have not. And I don't think any teacher could have made me enjoy The Scarlet Letter.

I think its the time period, the language was still olderish. I love Sleepy Hollow but Ive read it many time first few times I read it, I hated and it's only 20pages.
 
Sorry your teacher sucked at teaching the Scarlet Letter - mine definitely did not let it be boring. We had some animated conversations about sexism, stereotyping, and symbolism.

Guessing from your list of books you prefer white macho male angst. Have you read The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber?

Mmm... I think that story would scare most men around here! Personally, I liked it and take the story out and read it.
 


Stumbled across this thread at 5:30 am and it's taken me til this point to read it all (school morning interruptions) but it is about my all time favorite book. I've read it probably 15 times and each time I find a new or different layer of meaning. I'm also a book geek and have this book in original very tattered/taped together paperback, newer paperback, special anniversary hardback version lol!


Besides, what teens do you know that won't access a book they want to read even if their parents are against it? That is usually like waving a red flag in front of a bull! lol
This times a thousand. Sure way to get a kid to read- tell them it's banned. I think my entire 6th grade class read "Forever" by Judy Blume - even the boys and those who weren't big readers lol!

My classes are starting to read Fahrenheit 451 soon, and I do some mini-lessons on banned books.
I think I love you:P My bookshelves are crammed with "banned books", and I often read whatever my kids read (I like the Percy Jackson series as much as they do)
Murder On The Orient Express.
what??:scared1: But just goes to show how individual tastes are (but not liking Orient express???o_O)

I think the reason TKaM is such a great part of the middle or high school curriculum is because it is more than a book about race and prejudice. To use a terribly overused cliche of our time, it is intersectional - there is the big overarching story about race, but also the lesser stories that raise conversations about gender and disability and other forms of prejudice. That creates a springboard for talking not only about racism in the historical context, but also how certain groups can be simultaneously privileged and discriminated against, both perpetrators and victims of prejudice, and how there are degrees of bias but all inflict harm. But a big part of my skepticism about how it will be replaced has to do with the specific situation being discussed - a teacher so passive or so powerless that s/he cannot prevent a discussion from devolving into juvenile humor about a forbidden word, and a district that responded to a parent complaint by pulling the book rather than addressing that in-classroom issue. That signals, to me, an intention to avoid the tough conversations because it is easier than demanding they be handled with mutual respect.

I definitely see your point about how it might be taken in a majority-minority classroom, though. It certainly has a strong element of the "white saviour" narrative, even though Atticus ultimately fails, and Tom Robinson is not exactly a strong character.
Perfectly said.

But I'm the parent that has bookshelves full of every kind of book, read the kids books too especially if they are enthused about a book, and arrange m personal books by how well I like them, whether it was well written etc (my husband almost found himself out on the street a couple years ago by being "helpful" and putting authors and series back together>:(. The kids were all outside when I got home that day and told me "we tried to stop him:rotfl2:)

I also think it's valuable to have set reading lists (and yes- freshen the list regularly) as it forces the kids to experience a book they might not have chosen otherwise. Turns out my son loves historical non fiction and autobiographies!
I'm also not a snob about genre- my son loves loves the Amulet series- one of the few books he retreads regularly.
 
Stumbled across this thread at 5:30 am and it's taken me til this point to read it all (school morning interruptions) but it is about my all time favorite book. I've read it probably 15 times and each time I find a new or different layer of meaning. I'm also a book geek and have this book in original very tattered/taped together paperback, newer paperback, special anniversary hardback version lol!



This times a thousand. Sure way to get a kid to read- tell them it's banned. I think my entire 6th grade class read "Forever" by Judy Blume - even the boys and those who weren't big readers lol!


I think I love you:P My bookshelves are crammed with "banned books", and I often read whatever my kids read (I like the Percy Jackson series as much as they do)
what??:scared1: But just goes to show how individual tastes are (but not liking Orient express???o_O)


Perfectly said.

But I'm the parent that has bookshelves full of every kind of book, read the kids books too especially if they are enthused about a book, and arrange m personal books by how well I like them, whether it was well written etc (my husband almost found himself out on the street a couple years ago by being "helpful" and putting authors and series back together>:(. The kids were all outside when I got home that day and told me "we tried to stop him:rotfl2:)

I also think it's valuable to have set reading lists (and yes- freshen the list regularly) as it forces the kids to experience a book they might not have chosen otherwise. Turns out my son loves historical non fiction and autobiographies!
I'm also not a snob about genre- my son loves loves the Amulet series- one of the few books he retreads regularly.

And the thing is, she was SUPER excited to read Murder On The Orient Express after loving And Then There Were None.

Same author, both books highly acclaimed, totally different reaction from her on these.
 

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