Comments on: ‘Persepolis’ Restored to Chicago School Libraries; Classroom Access Still Restricted

By: Herman Sutter

Herman Sutter — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:33:08 +0000

How can it “smack of censorship?” when a library or school district simply decides that a work isn’t age appropriate? Do we as professionals have no actual ethics or civil duty? Would Ms. Jones find that it “smacks of censorship” to remove an item from a collection that celebrates the KKK or that mocks the civil rights movement? If we fail to provide readers with material that offends all races and religions are we smacking with censorship? Or does someone only “smack of censorship” if they opt not to include materials that are trendy and cool in the hip groups?
Librarians & educators must be free to make decisions about resources and materials, and other librarians and watchdog groups need to be a little less quick to scream “censorship.” Sometimes the decision to remove a book is simply a decision to make room for other resources or new possibilities. And sometimes the local librarian or teacher truly knows best what is age appropriate for her students or library users.

By: E Hurley

E Hurley — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:07:42 +0000

My daughter read Persepolis last summer after completing Grade 7. I did wonder how she would react to some of the scenes, so I spoke with her about it afterwards. She enjoyed both books very much and has since read them again. These books gave us a chance to discuss issues that may not have normally come up. She is a 13-year-old girl who has insight into the lives of girls her age living through the Iranian Revolution. As teachers, we still think that’s a good thing, don’t we?

By: D. Carmichael

D. Carmichael — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:13:27 +0000

This is one of the first graphic novels I read during my school library certification courses. It made me a believer that graphic novels can stand with fiction and nonfiction as a source of rich material for thinking. Since then I have recommended it to countless struggling female readers. If classrooms are shy about it, try Does my head look big in this, by Abdel-Fattah. Maybe a book about a muslim in a more western country won’t appear so “radical.”