By Zorian Edwards, Multimedia & Features Editor and Ezra McClymonds, contributing writer
A list of books pulled for review was shared with The Panther Press staff by a parent in the PENNCREST School District. It includes, ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie, ‘Captain Underpants (series)’ by Dav Pilkey, ‘The Bluest Eye’ by Toni Morrison, ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseini, ‘Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ by Stephen Chbosky, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, ‘The Glass Castle’ by Jeannette Walls, ‘Speak’ by Laurie Halse Anderson, and ‘What My Mother Doesn’t Know’ by Sonya Sones.
The parent filed an RTK (Right To Know) request on Jan. 20 and received this list through an email from Ken Newman, the district’s assistant superintendent. There has not been an updated list available to the public since. The official number of books pulled from the PENNCREST libraries remains unknown.
“It’s somewhere around 110 books, I don’t have an exact number,” librarian Mike Brennemen said. “To say they’ve been removed is inaccurate. They’ve been pulled for review. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has been reviewed and reinstated, as well as ‘Captain Underpants’… Librarians have been called out for not speaking on it (during school board meetings), but if they aren’t residents, they can’t.”
The removal of these books from the library, for review or otherwise, affects the students of Saegertown. Sophomore Harmony Rossey (shown above) has had two books taken from her since the passing of Policy 109.2: ‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story’ by Ned Vizzini and ‘Eleanor & Park’ by Rainbow Rowell.
Rossey was halfway through Vizzini’s book when she had to return it to the library for review. “While I was reading that book, I felt better about myself, and I felt like I related more to it,” Rossey said. “Then I had it taken away from me, and I was very upset about it because I just wanted to see how the plot ended.”
The Panther Press 