An interesting story on the evening news caught my ear this evening. A
parent was upset over the distorted sexual images found in a book of
poems her child brought home as part of an assignment. So I did a
little investigating. The book, You Hear Me? : Poems & Writings by
Teenage Boys edited by Betsy Franco in 2000 is listed on Titlewave as a
YA book. Three reviews were provided. They were good reviews while
also letting on that some strong language and mature topics were in the
collection. Looking back to the news station's website, the student who
brought home the book was in elementary school. The principal said that
the book was purchased from a list of recommended titles teachers had
received at a state meeting last year.
Sadly, even when a book is on a recommended list of titles, it is
necessary to look into the title some before just ordering titles sight
unseen. Just by going to Titlewave, or some other review source, the
person who ordered the title would have noticed the inappropriate age
level of the book. Not that that is always a cause for not purchasing a
book, but certainly a reason to have further justification.
So, I guess this serves as a little reminder about lists of recommended
books and how some people choose to react to upsetting situations. How
do we know the person who compiled their list did their homework? The
scenario in this story was an upset parent who apparently went straight
to the media before following what we might think of as a typical route
where the teacher, librarian, or principal is confronted first. Has
anyone else had any experience with this title?
The link to the story that was found on 3-31-04 is
http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=1752924
"Parent Outraged After Book Of Poems Containing Adult Language Assigned
To Student"
Cheri Eastwood
MLS in 5-04
Lexington, KY
cherjess@insightbb.com
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