The Ketchikan School Board voted to uphold the superintendent’s decision to retain a book on the shelves of the Ketchikan High School library during its August 14 meeting.
The book in question, “What Girls Are Made Of” by Elana K. Arnold, was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award. Judges described it as a “challenging work” that “invites readers to look within themselves and explore their own identities and imperfections.”
The complaint was brought by Deborah Simon, who has recently challenged several other books in both the school and public libraries. The board voted to retain the book “Red Hood,” also written by Elana K. Arnold, back in April.
In her address to the School Board, Simon said the book “reads like a horror movie,” and asked them to reconsider its educational suitability.
“This book of horrors and despair with chapters of a teen’s tortured life interspersed with nightmarish tales of a girl with vaginas cropping up all over her body, a person systematically mutilating a female body, and other scenes reminiscent of Dante’s hell,” Simon said at the meeting.
Board member Keenan Sanderson confirmed with staff that parents can prevent their children from checking out any given book. But he said he doesn’t think that discretion should extend to other people’s children.
“One of the things that we hear a lot in this community, on pretty much everything, is that it is the parent’s right and the parent’s choice to be able to help direct the education of their student,” said Sanderson. “However, I do not believe one parent should have a larger say in their children’s education over another parent.”
The board voted unanimously to keep the book in the high school library.
