GLEN ELLYN, Ill., May 12 (UPI) -- A Chicago-area school district banned a novel, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," from the classrooms and library at a junior high school, officials said.
The Glen Ellyn District 41 school board recently voted 4-2 to reject the recommendation of a committee, comprised of school officials, teachers and parents, convened to urge reconsideration of the ban of the novel from Hadley Junior High School, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
The book was banned after parents of an 8th grade student objected to its inappropriate language and sexual content, the Tribune reported.
"They're young adults and we can't keep them in a bubble. If (the complaining parents) want to keep their kids in a bubble, that's fine, but they shouldn't be telling me what to do. They can exercise their choice not to read it, but don't take away ours," said parent Anne Blyth.
Sue Kowalski, of The Bookstore in Glen Ellen, said the banning caused a surge of interest in the novel.
"It suddenly becomes the most desirable book there is. It seems to me that banning a book has the opposite reaction than what they might have hoped," said Kowalski.
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky, was published in 1999 and is a story about a boy, 15, starting his freshman year of high school and describes his struggles through a series of letters. The book was third on the American Library Association's 2009 list of banned books due to its contents pertaining to sex, alcohol and drugs, the Tribune reported.
