The novel, "Life Is Funny" by E.R. Frank, depicts a group of teenagers dealing with domestic violence, molestation and relationships. It has won widespread praise, including a 2000 Teen People Book Club NEXT award, and a mention on the American Library Association's Quick Picks list from that year.
One particularly explicit sex scene drew the attention of Necola Adams, parent of a Tenaya Middle School seventh-grader. Adams approached the Merced City School District, which promptly pulled the book from both Tenaya and Rivera middle schools, which is what Adams wanted.
"It's a book that I believe isn't even appropriate for high school," said Merced City School District Assistant Superintendent RoseMary Duran, who directed the libraries to yank the book after Adams contacted her Monday afternoon.
Duran said the district would evaluate its book-buying policies and determine how the novel got on the shelves at the two schools.
She said the schools likely bought the book through an accelerated reading program that pre-selects literature for advanced students. In those cases, the schools buy the books in bulk rather than one by one, meaning a librarian didn't necessarily read the book before it hit the shelves.
Nanette Rahilly, who oversees the district's library media teachers, said a librarian probably relied on reviews before stocking Frank's book.
"The reviews are very, very, very good," Rahilly said. "Upon scrutiny, however, the district administration feels it is highly inappropriate for our students. Somehow, unfortunately, this book slipped through the cracks."
Though its subject material is targeted at young adults, the district's copy bears a sticker indicating students with a fourth-grade comprehension level can read it. Stamps inside the copy Adams' daughter read indicated eight students checked it out in the past year.
Middle schools in Atwater, Livingston and the Weaver School District outside Merced did not have the book, librarians said.
The Merced Union High School District has copies of the novel in all its libraries and recommends it for students in the ninth grade or higher, Assistant Superintendent Sylvia Smith said.
The high school district selected "Life Is Funny" based on reviews and an approval from the state school library association.
After reading an explicit passage Tuesday, Smith said she would read the entire book and determine whether it should be reviewed by the district for placement in the libraries.
Counters parent's values
Adams censors the music her children listen to and the movies they watch, an effort she and her husband chose to help them raise respectful kids, she said. Her daughter selected the novel to gain bonus points in an English class.
Adams said the book didn't bear any markings suggesting it contained sexually explicit material, and she would not have known about its content if her daughter had not shown it to her. She said her husband flipped through the book Sunday night and highlighted dozens of passages with either sexually graphic references or questionable language.
"There's a lot of things influencing our kids. We don't need it in the schools," said Adams, who matriculated through Merced schools herself, and graduated from Merced High School in 1981.
Adams' daughter, Hailey, said the book's content shocked her, especially considering it was marked to allow people with a fourth grade reading level access to it.
"I really don't think they should be putting books out like that in any school at any grade level," said Hailey Adams, 12.
The passage that upset Necola Adams the most describes two teenagers' first experience with intercourse. The excerpt features slang -- including four-letter words -- and a litany of sensations running through the boy's mind.
"This is X-rated," Necola Adams said.
Districts mull merits
School districts in Montana and Florida have debated whether to pull Frank's novels from their shelves in the past year, though neither district actually dropped the books, press reports show.
Frank, a New York psychotherapist, says she seeks to write realistic teen fiction. She spoke with Florida's St. Petersburg Times a year ago and said she would not mind if schools pull her books as long as they provoke a discussion on the merits of her novels.
"If, however, a few people in the county have read bits of (my book) and, without formal process and discussion with the community, yank it off the high school shelves, I find that to be reactionary, insulting and a shame," she told the newspaper.
Pat Scales, a South Carolina high school librarian who wrote "Teaching Banned Books," said the Merced City School District might have to stop buying books in bulk to prevent a similar controversy from arising in the future.
"They need to be selecting something they can stand behind," said Scales, a spokeswoman for the American Library Association on school issues. Hand-selecting books would allow librarians to account for maturity level rather than just reading level, Scales said.
Scales also said Frank's book could open up discussions on contemporary teen life between parents and students. She said books like Frank's have a place on school shelves because they provide a perspective that pertains to some students' lives.
"What we've got to face is that our whole society has changed. The best thing we can do is read the book, talk to kids about it, and see where they fit in this world," she said.
Reporter Adam Ashton can be reached at 385-2484 or aashton@mercedsun-star.com.
