Family, school resolve book dispute

When Steve Brown and his wife Christina met with the principal at the Blue Springs Freshman Center last month about a book their daughter was reading, they didn’t want the it book removed or banned from the library.

They wanted was an alternative choice for their daughter to read for credit in her English class.

“All we wanted was for our daughter to be able to pick another book,” said the father of four children, all in the Blue Springs School District. “Going out on this crusade to ban books was not and is not our agenda.”

The book in question is “Hold Still” by Nina LaCour. It follows a young girl on her quest to get past the suicide of her friend. It is not the theme that concerned Brown. It was the language and in his opinion, “graphic sex scenes,” that he felt were inappropriate for his daughter to read.

The book is part of a 15-book reading list given to his daughter’s class. Students were required to pick one book for a grade, and if they read three, they would receive an award. Brown said his daughter read “Hold Still,” but was uncomfortable with the language, which included repeated use of the “F-word” and “F-you“ phrases.

“The message is about suicide, and I had no problem with that. But if you had the best message in the world put in ‘Playboy,’ you would never get to that message,” he said. “We felt like it was a questionable book for our daughter.”

None of the other books on the list suited her better.

So Brown and his wife took their concerns to Dan Anderson, principal at the Freshman Center. A member of the military, Brown said it was important to him that they follow the chain of command and give Anderson the opportunity to deal with their concerns at the school level.

Contrary to a television report, Brown said, they never asked that the book be removed or banned.

“A student should be able to pick another book to read for a grade,” he said. “We feel like when it comes to school, they should be more toward the middle and not push an agenda either way. It is a partnership between parents and the school. Together we need to guide children and keep up on what is going on. I am all for freedom of speech except for when my rights as a parent are being stepped on. I felt because the teacher was not giving us another option, my rights as a parent were not being considered.”

Following the television coverage, the Missouri Association of School Librarians issued a statement defending “Hold Still,” saying it’s a well-written story about a young adult finding hope despite trying circumstances.

Leslie Evans, the district’s public information director, said the reading list with “Hold Still” is not a part of the district curriculum. It was something the teacher had created. Regardless, she said the district did pull the book from the shelves while the review process continues.

“What happened is that the teacher put out her own list and did not use the approved book reading list. The district-approved reading list has safeguards included and gives parents and students alternatives if they do not like the options on the list. It turned out to be a big misunderstanding,” he said. “We did not ask the book to be pulled. If every book was pulled from the shelves with questionable themes, we could pull books that have been in the library since I was a kid. We did not want to do that.”

Earlier this week, the Browns met with Anderson and other administrators to discuss their concerns. He said they were given the district-approved reading list and his daughter was switched to a different English class. Brown said he could not be happier with the outcome and is happy that the district worked with his family to find a solution.

“As a parent, I do everything I can to try to keep my child from things that can hurt them. That was all this was about. There was no conspiracy to go after books,” he said. “My belief is that if you sit down and have a conversation with people, you can work out the problem and find a solution. That is what happened, and we are very happy with the outcome.”