Alaska school board bans Catch 22 & The Great Gatsby for ‘rape, incest & sex’ but some members haven’t read them

The beloved novels were previously studied by high schoolers in the Anchorage School District but school teachers in the cities of Wasilla and Palmer won't be allowed to include them on the curriculum.

The district uses a group of teachers and administrators to review books but the deputy superintendent makes the final call on the matter.

'"Things that are pretty serious problems, especially in our teenage world,' board member Jeff Taylor said. "Is there a reason that we include books that we even label as controversial in our curriculum?"

BOOK BAN

"I would prefer these were gone," Taylor added.

Another member of the board, Jim Hart, said he had only read a summary of the banned books.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has a graphic description of molestation which Hart claims he would get in trouble for reading in a work setting.

"If I were to read this in a professional environment at my office, I would be dragged to the equal opportunity office," he exclaimed.

"I can tell you the majority of parents will just sign off on the books and won't read them anyway or won't even know what's in them," a third member, Ole Larson, agreed.

CURIOUS READERS

But their efforts to quash the literary classics have had the opposite effect on curious readers.

The owner of Fireside Books in Palmer, Mary Ann Cockle, was inundated with online orders for the five books, according to the Daily News.

One of the dissenting voices on the board, Kelsey Trimmer, said the situation brought the 1984 film Footloose - where dancing and rock music are illegal in a small town - to mind.

Likewise, board member Sarah Welton said removing these books was doing students a huge disservice, according to the newspaper.

'DISSERVICE TO STUDENTS'

"I believe the controversial book subjects as reviewed by parents is ... it's beneficial to our students," Welton said.

"I think we might be doing a disservice to not provide that."

Pat Chesbro, a former teacher, shared a message she sent to the board after the news came to light.

She said: "One of the purposes in teaching books that have controversial content is so that teachers can guide students through the book to get to the underlying ideas.

"From your reading of these books, what are the underlying ideas to which you object?"

The decision arose after one board member asked for information on the more risqué English elective books.

But Dianne K. Shibe, President of the Mat-Su Education Association, has blasted the bizarre five-book ban.

"This is a blatant effort to curtail critical thinking, stifle discussion, and deprive our students of the opportunity to share, as a class, the experience of studying some of the most classic American literature," Shibe said.