However, the book will not be returned to the junior-high library shelves, she also announced at a December 14 school board meeting.
In reinstating the novel, Banks expressed dismay at accusations leveled at her for the preceding month that she had banned the book because of its gay content. “I recalculated everything in light of those comments and thought the greater good was served by putting it back in the high school library,” she said in the December 16 Tacoma News Tribune. She also said she would seek clarification of the board’s reconsideration policy so that a committee makes such decisions in the future and the motivations of one official won’t overshadow the merits of the material being reviewed.
A Tacoma resident, Hartinger attended the board meeting and characterized as “terrific” the community dialogue that grew out of the controversy. ”There’s a heightened awareness of gay-lesbian teens, and the board is committed to reaching out,” he noted.
Posted December 16, 2005.