Nearly 100 books pulled from Beaufort school libraries for review of possible adult content
“Are there any minors in here?” parent Joseph Castagnino asked before making his public comment at the Beaufort County School Board meeting Oct. 18.
Then, he read a sex scene from “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins in front of the board, parents and attendees. “Tricks” is a New York Times bestselling novel that tells the story of five teenagers that fall into prostitution.
And, until last Friday, the novel was available at some Beaufort County middle and high school libraries.
Three days after Castagnino’s reading, school administrators started pulling this and 96 other books from all Beaufort County schools, district spokesperson Candace Bruder said Tuesday.
The list includes what could be considered classics such as “ The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The list also includes titles such as “grl2grl” and “Foul is Fair.”
Bruder said a community member provided a list of 97 books the morning after the meeting.
Castagnino said he and other Beaufort County parents sent the board a list of 97 books with “adult-rated content” that they compiled last week.
“There’s a book rating just like there’s a movie rating,” Castagnino said. “That’s where the list of 96 books comes from.”
To compile the list, Castagnino and other parents cross referenced books that had adult ratings with the Beaufort County School Library catalog. Castagnino didn’t say what rating system they used.
District procedure for challenged materials is typically a multi-step process, which involves a parent submitting a formal complaint, conferences between librarians, parents and students, and a “Materials Reconsideration Committee.”
This process is separate from South Carolina’s annual textbook and material review process, where parents can look over material and submit comments.
The district didn’t receive a formal complaint for the 97 materials, according to Bruder.
“Although the district made a Request for Reconsideration of School Library Materials Form available to parents expressing concerns about books, no forms were received by the district,” she said. “However, after hearing concerns regarding some of the books in question, the district decided to temporarily remove books from shelves to undergo a review process.”
In the library catalog the books will show as “in processing” while under review.
“As a district, we have the right to pull materials at any time when concerns are brought to our attention,” Bruder said. “Typically during the review process, the materials are temporarily removed until the process is complete.”
The list of books being pulled and reviewed that Bruder provided is:
1. A lesson in Vengeance
2. All Boys Aren’t Blue
3. All the Things We Do in the Dark
4. Almost Perfect
5. Ask the Passengers
6. Beautiful
7. Boy Girl Boy
8. Breathless
9. Burned
10. City of Heavenly Fire
11. Clockwork Princess
12. Collateral
13. Confess: A Novel
14. Cool for the Summer
15. Court of Frost and Starlight
16. Court of Mist and Fury
17. Court of Thorns and Roses
18. Court of Wings and Ruin
19. Crank
20. Damsel
21. Eleanor and Park
22. Empire of Storms
23. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
24. Fade
25. Fallout
26. Felix Ever After
27. Flamer
28. Forever for a Year
29. Foul is Fair
30. Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
31. Glass
32. Go Ask Alice
33. Grit
34. grl2grl
35. Grown
36. Half of a Yellow Sun
37. Hopeless
38. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
39. I’ll Give You the Sun
40. Identical
41. Impulse
42. It Ends With Us
43. Kingdom of Ash
44. Last Night at the Telegraph Club
45. Layla
46. Leah on the Offbeat
47. Living Dead Girl
48. Lolita
49. Looking for Alaska
50. Lucky
51. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
52. Milk and Honey
53. Monday’s Not Coming
54. More Happy Than Not
55. Nineteen Minutes
56. November 9
57. Oryx and Crake
58. Out of Darkness
59. Perfect
60. Push
61. Ramona Blue
62. Red at the Bone
63. Rumble
64. Scars
65. Shine
66. Skin
67. Smoke
68. Sold
69. Speak
70. Stamped (AD, YA, YD, and for Kids versions)
71. The Art of Racing in the Rain
72. The Black Flamingo
73. The Bluest Eye
74. The Carnival at Bray
75. The Duff
76. The Female of the Species
77. The Fixer
78. The Freedom Writers Diary
79. The Handmaid’s Tale
80. The Haters
81. The Infinite Moment of Us
82. The Kite Runner
83. The Lovely Bones
84. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
85. The Poet X
86. The Truth About Alice
87. The Upside of Unrequited
88. The You I’ve Never Known
89. Thirteen Reasons Why
90. This One Summer
91. Tilt
92. Tower of Dawn
93. Tricks
94. Water for Elephants
95. Wintergirls
96. Yolk
97. YOLO
