In response to a letter in the CDA Press on 1/8/25.
For those in our community who don’t know it, there is a group working tirelessly to protect books that violate Idaho law.
There is an list of books that meet the definition of obscene in Idaho statute available on the CleanBooks4Kids webpage.
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The list on the webpage is the original list which has all catagories - including those that do not violate the law and it does not include catalog links or excerpts.
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“The Poet X” by Elizabeth Acevedo, is mentioned in the letter as being about about a Dominican girl finding her voice through poetry. The book has themes of glorifying promiscuity, drug use, alcohol use, sex addiction, and more than one description of unwanted groping of a minor female by men. How is this finding her voice?
In “Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda” by Jean-Phillipe Stassen, the letter writer says it examines the aftermath of genocide with sensitivity. How is adultery, frequently use of various terms to describe male genitals, and glorification of rape being sensitive? Learning about the genocide in Rwanda is important, this book is not the way to do that, in my opinion.
“I’ll Give You the Sun” by Jandy Nelson does not portray love and identity with rare nuance. It portrays underage drinking, underage sex, and watching other people have sex. Seems like it is more about lust than about love.
If a book violates Idaho law why is taxpayer money being used to purchase it? Authentic and necessary perspectives, especially for minors, do not include sex scenes, drug use, underage drinking, glorification of rape, etc. There are a multitude of books that talk about a girl finding her voice, educating people on Rwanda, and stories of love that are not violating Idaho law. Let’s find those books and buy them with taxpayer money.
I do agree that Libraries should champion inclusion and understanding - while not violating Idaho law. Let’s protect our child!
