2012 in Review: Debate Over Challenged Book Divides Community

When parents challenged two books from AP English class, community members pushed back.

This is the fifth and final installment in a recap of the top five stories Plymouth-Canton Patch covered in 2012. When Plymouth-Canton Community School's superintendent pulled the Graham Swift novel Waterland from AP English classrooms after parental complaints about a controversial passage, it set off a spirited pushback from the community with ripple effects that extended through the November 2012 election. On Dec. 21, 2011, as Plymouth-Canton students were heading into winter break, Plymouth-Canton Superintendent Jeremy Hughes pulled Waterland after complaints of inappropriate sexual content. The parents also later challenged the use of Toni Morrison's Beloved.  While the Plymouth-Canton school board largely declined to get involved …

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Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Book Challenge an 'Attack' on Rigor of Studies

Jerry Thompson criticizes tactics used in challenging AP English books.

Hello Mr. McKay, As someone who grew up in Plymouth, attending school K-12 and taught at Plymouth-Canton Educational Park during three decades, I am concerned that removal of scholarly texts Beloved and Waterland from AP courses are an attack on the rigor of advanced studies. Tactics used, based on reading of small excerpts which are characterized as “pornography,”  could be easily be applied to outlaw even the Bible. Not only are AP students having books yanked out of their hands, due process of board policy is still not being followed for Waterland. This book is treated as guilty until proven innocent. The American way? This is the proverbial “slippery slope.” My point being that one can conjur fear and create divisiveness about a great …

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