海角大神

Somewhere, Kurt Vonnegut is laughing.

Republic High School in Republic, Mo., banned two books, including one of Vonnegut鈥檚, after a parent complained that the books advocate principles contrary to the Bible.

After a yearlong fight, the Republic district鈥檚 school board to ban Mr. Vonnegut鈥檚 鈥�Slaughterhouse Five,鈥� and Sarah Ockler鈥檚 鈥淭wenty Boy Summer,鈥� of Republic resident Wesley Scroggins, a professor of management at Missouri State University, and the father of several home-schooled children.

Vonnegut鈥檚 work was part of an upper-level English course and will be removed from the curriculum, while Ms. Ockler鈥檚 novel will be removed from the library.

One other book under review, 鈥淪peak,鈥� by Laurie Halsey Anderson, which includes a short, graphic description of a rape, was deemed instructional, and allowed to remain in the school.

鈥淚 congratulate them for doing what's right and removing the two books,鈥� Professor Scroggins told the Columbus, Indiana, . 鈥淚t's unfortunate they chose to keep the other book.鈥�

School officials stressed that the move was not a judgment call on the merit of the books, but a decision on whether the books were appropriate for high school students.

鈥淲e very clearly stayed out of discussion about moral issues,鈥� Republic School Superintendent Vern Minor told . 鈥淥ur discussions from the get-go were age-appropriateness.鈥�

Mr. Minor said 鈥淭wenty Boy Summer鈥� sensationalized sexual promiscuity and included questionable language, drunkenness, lying to parents, and a lack of remorse, while 鈥淪laughterhouse Five鈥� contained crude language and adult themes that are more appropriate for college-age students, according to .

鈥淲e just felt that of the three books, the two we have pulled aren't age-appropriate and send the wrong message,鈥� told the UPI.

As it turns out, the Republic High School isn鈥檛 alone in banning the books. 鈥淪laughterhouse Five鈥� is a fixture on the most-banned books list of the American Library Association. One of the first to ban it, says Mike Hendricks of , was a North Dakota school district that, in 1973, gathered up its 32 copies and burned them in a coal furnace.

鈥淰onnegut was outraged,鈥� , 鈥渂ut surely appreciated the irony of burning a book whose narrative centers on the allied firebombing of Dresden during World War II."

"So were he still alive, I imagine the author would be rolling his eyes at the thought that his 1969 book about young men dying for a cause they couldn鈥檛 fathom 鈥� its subtitle is 鈥淭he Children鈥檚 Crusade鈥� 鈥� was deemed unfit for young eyes in 2011,鈥� Hendricks added.

As Hendricks points out, there鈥檚 probably no better way to get these Republic high schoolers to read Vonnegut and Ockler than to ban them.

鈥淪imply forbid your high schooler from reading the likes of J.D Salinger鈥檚 鈥�The Catcher in the Rye,鈥� Toni Morrison鈥檚 鈥楤eloved鈥� and other classics on [the most banned list],鈥� . 鈥淣ext thing you know, they鈥檒l be reading under the covers at night with a flashlight.鈥�

As Vonnegut might have said, .

Husna Haq is a Monitor contributor.

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