Arlington, Texas, parent Donna Harkreader has appealed a March 14 decision by a panel of junior-high-school librarians not to ban Robert Cormier’s We All Fall Down from all libraries in the school district, claiming that the book contains age-inappropriate sex and violence. Superintendent Mac Bernd is expected to read the book a second time and make a final decision soon, according to the March 17 Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Harkreader argued that “if [people] look at the content, I think they would be shocked that the librarians want to keep this in the schools.” Boles Junior High Librarian Sandra Cope countered, “People want to put tags on books to fit the age of a student, but that’s not a possibility. The worst book is the book not read.” Cormier’s 1993 novel tells the story of four high-school students who go on a rampage and trash a family’s home.
Following Harkreader’s initial complaint last fall, the book was removed in January from the Boles Junior High library on the recommendation of a committee of teachers, one parent, and one student. District Director of Library Services Miles Morris then recommended that librarians from the other campus also review it as “a safeguard.”
Posted March 20, 2000.