In an article published by Heidi Schmidt on August 28, 2023, on the KC TV 5 website she shared the American Library Association’s top 13 most challenged books of 2022 in Missouri and Kansas. Out of curiosity I decided to check the Cameron library and see how many of those books we had here.
It didn’t take me long to find the first book. I knew this one from memory. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson is the 2nd most challenged books in Missouri and Kansas. In this picture from the personal Instagram account of the Cameron high school librarian you can see the cover of All Boys in the top right. According to Heidi, this book was challenged 86 times for the stated reason of having sexually explicit content.
Residents of Cameron who attended the August 29, 2023 special board of education meeting had the opportunity to hear Dan Landi read some of that concerning sexually explicit content. For those of you who missed it, you can watch Dan read it to the board of education.
In total, the Cameron high school library has 8 of the top 13 most challenged books of 2022. The Cameron board of education recently said our district is a leader in education in NW Missouri. I don’t think they had this particular stat in mind when the made that statement.
The other 7 of the top 13 books found in the Cameron high school library and the most state reason for being challenged are as follows.
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison – sexually explicit, sexual assault and
- Looking for Alaska by John Green – sexually explicit and LBGT content
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – sexual abuse, sexually explicit content, LBGT content, drug use and profanity
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – sexually explicit content and profanity
- Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez – sexually explicit content and abuse
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins – sexually explicit content and drug use
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews – sexually explicit content and profanity