Needs editing . . .

[ex-khobar Andy]

From (you guessed it) the Daily Mail:

Kara Bell demanded that an Austin school board remove the book Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez from its middle school shelves due to its descriptions of anal sex at a Lake Travis Independent School District board meeting on Wednesday.

Those school board meetings are more interesting than I thought . . .

[Sue U]

Those school board meetings are more interesting than I thought . . .

Something something "school board members."

That's all I got.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Heh heh, "he said that many books with sexually explicit content have holistic value"

[Burning Petard]

Like the King James version of the Holy Bible, for one example.
snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

Out of Darkness has a 5 star rating on commonsensemedia.org, and this is the expert review there:

WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW
Parents need to know that Out of Darkness is a historical novel by Ashley Hope Pérez that was named a 2016 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book. Set in 1936 East Texas in the months leading up to the 1937 New London School Explosion, the book explores a fictional relationship between a Mexican teen allowed to attend the white high school and an African-American teen who lives in the black neighborhood on the other side of town. Language include racial slurs such as the "N" word, "Boy," and "dirty Mexican," as well as occasional curse words, including "s--t," "c--t," and "f--k." The violence is disturbing, personal, and based in racial hatred. Additionally, the book explores the mature and intimate relationship between two teens.

Here is the Booklist review:

"Pérez's latest―following What Can't Wait (2011)―is a powerful work of historical fiction set in New London, Texas, that revolves around events leading up to the horrific 1937 school explosion that killed close to 300 people. This gripping story centers on high-school senior Naomi, a Mexican American girl who recently arrived from San Antonio with her half siblings, twins Beto and Cari, and their father, oilfield worker Henry. Naomi's struggle to learn how to take care of the household chores is complicated by her dark past with Henry and the overt racism she faces in the segregated town. She reluctantly befriends and then falls in love with an African American boy, Wash, who is both brilliant and kind to her younger brother and sister. Pérez's skillful use of multiple perspectives creates a full and well-rounded sense of place and story. Elegant prose and gently escalating action will leave readers gasping for breath at the tragic climax and moving conclusion."―Booklist

And a couple of reviews from Amazon readers:

Alex Bourque
1.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Traumatizing!
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2020
I had to read this book for a college class, and it was so traumatizing for violence, sexual abuse, and racism that I could only make it halfway though. I don’t know how this book was published.
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A. Carson
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Take the young ADULT label seriously
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2017
This was a raw and graphic novel, filled with as much abuse and hatred as there was love and hope. It was beautifully written, with lyrical descritpions, and the characters were fleshed out and realistic. There was sexual content, both consensual and forced, though not described in gratuitous detail. There was also an abundance of racial slurs and violence, again central to the story. Overall, very well-written and heartbreakingly realistic. I would not recommend this to younger teens.

Rheetha
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Definitely going on our library shelf!
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016
I'm still raw from reading this book. A young Mexican girl who lost her mother due to childbirth is sent with her brother and sister (twins) from her grandparents' home to East Texas to live with her stepfather (the Twins' father). He is not a great guy to Naomi, but the twins like him. The siblings all meet Wash, an African American who is awesome and caring, and they all make a strange, happy family. But this is the 1930's, and the relationship is not accepted. At all. And then bad happens.
The story is set around the New London elementary school explosion, which I knew nothing about. But apparently it is the deadliest school disaster in America. And it was gruesome. This is not a light read, and there are some very adult situations, but it is a book that exposes more of the country's racial cruelty to anyone who is not white. This book definitely goes in the We Need Diverse Books shelf.
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Mary K.
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
This author always shocks and surprises you.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016
This author is one of a kind. I have enjoyed all three of her books and this one was no exception. The fact that I live in East Texas makes the setting personal. My family has similar stories of people just as bad and just as good as these characters. As always, I was riveted and never expected it to end like it did. Mrs. Perez knows how to make the characters come to life and knows how to keep you invested in the story. She always shocks and surprises you. She deserves the award she won for this book and deserves more recognition than she is getting.

The book is rated for grade 9 and above, so we are talking about older teens, 14/15+. By that age kids know about sex. They know about vaginal sex and anal sex and oral sex. They may not be having any yet, but they know about it. And they know that rape exists. Some teenagers have already been raped themselves or have a friend who has been raped. But at very least, they are surrounded by sex and sexual violence in media and the news of what’s happening in our culture. They are only a few years away from navigating the world on their own, so exposure to the harsh realities of life as presented in literature seems like nothing shocking to expect.

Just so much fucked up repressed evangelical bullshit from these parents complaining about the book. Opt out and don’t let your kid read it. I’m pretty sure that will only make the kid more interested in reading between the stacks at the school library. Or the kid will end up like Alex, a college student who cannot handle reading about experiences that are very true to life and happen to a great many people in the world in which he lives in his sanitized bubble.

[Crackpot]

this was a middle school not a hight school.

[BoSoxGal]

The publisher rates the book as appropriate for ages 14-17, common sense media rates it for age 15+.

How old are middle schoolers these days? Isn’t middle school typically ages 13-14? (I was 12-13 in middle school because I started grade school younger than most of my peers, so I’m unsure of the typical age.)

I just read the DM article and it made me laugh. The mother is raging about depictions of racism, so I bet she’s one of these don’t teach CRT nutters who wants her kids to be taught that white people are lovely and never done anyone wrong. She admits herself that she had to look up what the reference to cornhole even meant and I’m sure her kids wouldn’t know either and would gloss over that passage without learning all about anal sex.

Okay so the book is only for 8th graders.

As for me, I was reading my mother’s Sidney Sheldon and Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins novels before I even got to middle school - talk about purient sexual content! Well you can see how badly I turned out. Maybe momma bear is right.

[Scooter]

As much as I would prefer not to give any quarter to these would-be book burners, middle schoolers are typically 11 to (only just) 14. Probably not appropriate for most of them.

And it appears that the article has since been edited to address the, er, ambiguity pointed out by Andy.

[Gob]

" but it is a book that exposes more of the country's racial cruelty to anyone who is not white"

"an African American who is awesome and caring"

Cliché much?

[Jarlaxle]

People would be amazed at the content of some "young adult" books...and it's certainly not a recent thing.

[MajGenl.Meade]

gloss over that passage

[BoSoxGal]

gloss over that passage

I had to do a few searches online to understand why you would post that emoticon in response to my comment. Took a while to find the urban dictionary use of the word gloss which I assume is the root of your reaction.

I guess I’m just not as up on sexual slang as the average dirty old man.

(I would note that ‘gloss over’ has no sexual connotations that I could find - so the gutter thinking was a stretch.)

[MajGenl.Meade]

gloss over that passage

I had to do a few searches online to understand why you would post that emoticon in response to my comment. Took a while to find the urban dictionary use of the word gloss which I assume is the root of your reaction.

I guess I’m just not as up on sexual slang as the average dirty old man.

(I would note that ‘gloss over’ has no sexual connotations that I could find - so the gutter thinking was a stretch.)

Us old geezers get hung up on "passage"

[BoSoxGal]

Why? It means a short extract from a book or other publication. In what way do you assert I have misused it?

[Joe Guy]

A passage can be an entrance or an exit.

[BoSoxGal]

A passage can be an entrance or an exit.

No, it can’t be. It can be the space between two entrances/exits.

The dictionary is a wonderful tool.

[Joe Guy]

passage noun

1a : a way of exit or entrance : a road, path, channel, or course by which something passes

[Econoline]

As an official old geezer myself, I'm pretty sure the passage Meade gets hung up about is the passage of, um, bodily wastes?

[Joe Guy]

Yes, Meade's kinda anal about those sorts of words....

[BoSoxGal]

You guys are like middle schoolers. It’s depressing to know that men never get past that.