Orwell’s “1984” Challenged in Idaho & Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” Challenged in North Carolina

From the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund:

This week, we celebrate Banned Books Week, the annual recognition of our right to read. But sometimes, it seems like some people take Banned Books Week as a dare to censor books instead of reading them. In fact, as we kick off Banned Books Week, two classics are under fire by censors.
First up is George Orwell’s dystopian epic 1984, which is being challenged in Jefferson County, Idaho. The school is considering banning the book’s use in senior-level government classes after a parent complained over “violent, sexually charged language” in the novel. According to reporting by Devin Bodkin at IdahoEdNews.org, Jefferson County School District superintendent Lisa Sherick seems to be considering the complaint, questioning whether the book contradicts the “basic ideals, goals and institutions of the local community
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Meanwhile, administrators in Buncombe County, North Carolina, are considering a complaint about Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, which is being used in high school honors English courses.  Parent Tim Coley challenged the book over sexual content. “It’s astounding really that somebody thinks it’s OK for kids to be reading this in school,” Coley told  Tanja Rekhi with local ABC News affiliate WLOS-13. “As a Christian single dad, that’s not the values I teach my kids, and it’s certainly not OK for them to have to read a book like that.”

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