District removes 8 books as inappropriate

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Students will no longer find several books in the libraries and media centers of Forsyth County Schools.

The superintendent of schools says the district removed eight books after determining they contain sexually explicit material.

“Administratively we reviewed the books and we have over 500 thousand books in our media centers in Forsyth County Schools, but there were 8 of them we determined were not appropriate to be in public schools,” Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden told Channel 2 Action News.

The books removed include:

• “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson

• “Juliet Takes a Breath” by Gabby Rivera

• “L8r, g8r” by Lauren Myracle

• “Me Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews

• “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult

• “Out of Darkness”” by Ashley Hope Perez

• “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison

• “The Infinite Moment of Us” by Lauren Myracle

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Parents are questioning how the books got into schools if they’re so bad.

“I think that cancel culture and just canceling everything instead of talking about tough questions is also a big issue,” father Jonathon Feicht said.

The school district said there is a review process and rating system to determine if a book is appropriate.

Two other books, “Looking for Alaska” by John Green and “Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany Jackson, are under further review.

Four books were moved to high school media centers.

• “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

• “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood

• “This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki

• Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

The district says it supports the First Amendment and “if students and their parents choose to read these books outside of school, that is their right to do so.”

Gov. Brian Kemp toured a Forsyth school Monday. He said removing books is a decision for local schools to decide.

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