"Nobody is here to ban a book..."

The Monitor (TX) | Parents seek to ban books
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land..., part of the class' summer reading list, may lead to "inappropriate sexual arousal of young teens," parent Julie Wilde wrote in her complaint to the district.

As opposed to appropriate sexual arousal, which would be inspired by...what?

Well, she may have a point with Stranger.

The Monitor (TX) | South Texas ISD board decides against book ban, grants alternative
In the end, the school board voted unanimously to keep Brave New World and Stranger in a Strange Land, while giving parents more control over their students' choices by requiring principals to automatically offer an alternative to a challenged book.

..."Nobody is here to ban a book," ...Eddie Medrano said. "We're not here to ban any book. We are here to just plead with you to say to the staff, to the administrators, to the teachers, to say to them that certain books are not appropriate to this age level. Maybe they would be appropriate when they're older, but not freshmen kids. Not these books."

Sophomore Heather Outland said she found the books to be pornographic and offensive.

I can think of no better way to turn kids off to science fiction than forcing them to read "Stranger in a Strange Land" too early. On the other hand, I read it in junior high, and I turned out all right...Well, maybe I'm not the best example...

I have been thinking for a while that school reading lists tend toward the dark and depressing. The last few books my daughter has been assigned include "Lord of the Flies", "On the Beach", "1984", "A Tale of Two Cities", "A Separate Peace", and "The Autobiography of Malcolm X". Can we please have a book where the protagonist doesn't die?

(Saw it at the Obscure Store.)