Mississippi school district places restrictions on more than 20 books after parents raise concerns

Published 7:00 am Saturday, April 23, 2022

A Mississippi public school district announced that it has placed new restrictions on more than 20 books after complaints from parents about “mature content” in the books.

Jackson news source report that the Madison County school system will require students to get parental permission before checking more than 20 books placed in restricted circulation in the district’s elementary, middle, and high school libraries.

The school district said that most of the challenged books are in middle and high school libraries.

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The school district said a team of educators has been selected to review challenged books for “mature content” and make recommendations to district leaders.

The district’s new restriction are in response to parents concerns in the wake of a controversy over the funding of the Ridgeland library because of objections to materials that addressed LGBTQ issues.

The books currently in restricted circulation in the Madison County School District are:

“Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
“All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
“American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison
“The Benefits of Being an Octopus” by Ann Braden
“Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person” by Frederick Joseph
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
“Dear Martin” by Nic Stone
“Discovering Wes Moore” by Wes Moore
“Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
“I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika Sánchez
“Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
“Let Me Hear a Rhyme” by Tiffany D. Jackson
“Love, Hate, and Other Filters” by Samira Ahmed
“Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson
“Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez
“Piecing Me Together” by Renee Watson
“Queer, There, & Everywhere” by Sarah Prager
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
“Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen
“Uglies” by Scott Westerfeld