Barometer Rising Lives of Girls and Women Hugh MacLennan At a convention in 1960, members of the (Cover: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1971) School Trustees Association voted unanimously to ask Such Is My Beloved In 1976, a high school principal Manitoba’s department of education to remove this in Peterborough, Ont., removed (Cover: McClelland & Stewart, 2007) novel from the high school curriculum. Barometer this novel from the Grade 13 Canadian Poetry: In 1972, two Christian ministers Rising is a story of family conflict and romance set reading list. The novel depicts The Modern Era tried to get this novel removed the life of a girl growing up in in Halifax during World War I. “What the trustees John Newlove, editor from a high school in Huntsville, small-town Ontario in the 1940s. objected to is the vulgarity and the language used In 1987, Parents for a Quality Ont. The novel, which is set in The principal “‘questioned its in it,” said Frank Kennedy, a trustee from Norwood, Curriculum objected to the the 1930s, tells the story of a suitability’ because of the explicit Man. Most trustees had not read the novel. use of this anthology—and five young Roman Catholic priest language and descriptions of sex other works of contemporary who tries to persuade two scenes,” reported Jeff Sallot in Canadian fiction—in high women to abandon their lives The Globe and Mail. Go Ask Alice as prostitutes. The ministers schools in Victoria County, Ont. Anonymous objected to the novel’s The parents objected to “anti- In 1978, school boards in Richmond and depiction of prostitution and establishment attitudes” in the Langley, B.C., removed this book from the use of “strong language.” poems, but the school board their high schools. Go Ask Alice, which voted to keep Canadian Poetry reads like a diary, describes a teenage on its reading list. girl’s experiences with narcotics and sex. In Richmond, students sent a petition to the school board to protest the ban, and the Richmond Teacher-Librarians’ Association supported them. In Langley, a committee of school trustees, librarians and parents recommended keeping copies in school counsellors’ offices. But these efforts failed; both bans stayed in effect. Challenged Publications Written by Franklin Carter | Design by Reva Pomer Hold Fast Kevin Major In 1988–89, an individual tried to get this young-adult novel removed from a high school library in Estevan, Sask. 3Canadians have long tried to Hold Fast tells the tale of a troubled lad from small-town Newfoundland remove books and magazines who challenges adult authority at almost every turn. School authorities that they deem offensive, in Estevan considered the complaint but kept the book in the library. or inappropriate for certain audiences, from public libraries A Jest of God and schools. Sometimes they (Cover: McClelland & Stewart, 2008) In 1978, a school trustee in Etobicoke, Ont., tried have succeeded and sometimes but failed to remove this novel from high school English classes. A Jest of God—which won the they have failed. To mark Freedom Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in The Last of the Golden Girls 1966—depicts the unhappy life of an elementary to Read Week, we present 30 of Susan Swan schoolteacher in small-town Manitoba. The (Cover: Lester & Orpen Dennys Publishers, 1989) In 1989, two women in Alberta heard the author read trustee objected to the portrayal of teachers “who their targets in recent decades. a passage from this novel, which describes the sexual escapades of three female had sexual intercourse time and time again, out friends in Ontario’s cottage country, on CBC Radio. Thinking the passage obscene, of wedlock.” He said the novel would diminish the two listeners complained to the police in Edmonton. A few months later, after the authority of teachers in students’ eyes. having listened to the tape, a detective dismissed the complaint.

Asha’s Mums The Apprenticeship Rosamund Elwin of Duddy Kravitz Of Mice and Men and Michele Paulse John Steinbeck (Cover: Women’s Press, 1990) (Cover: Penguin Group Canada, 1995) In 1994, in Alberta’s legislature, In 1997, school trustees In 1990, parents demanded Victor Doerksen called for the in Surrey, B.C., banned the removal of this novel from removal of profane, irreligious the use in the elementary high school reading lists in Essex books from Alberta’s schools. grades of children’s County, Ont. They objected to He cited Steinbeck’s novel, storybooks that depict “vulgarity, sexual expressions and which describes the hardships same-sex parents. One sexual innuendoes” in the text. of migrant workers in California of the banned titles was The novel, which is set chiefly in during the Great Depression, Asha’s Mums. A teacher, Montreal in the 1940s, tells the as an example. Doerksen had a James Chamberlain, story of a young Jewish man who petition that bore the signatures challenged the ban in court. strives for material success. of 811 Albertans who wanted In 2002, the Supreme Court Noted Canadian authors— schools to withdraw books that of Canada declared that B.C.’s including June Callwood and Al “demean or profane the name School Act required secular Purdy—defended the book. But of God and Jesus Christ.” and non-discriminatory the Essex County Board of education. A ban on books Education advised teachers and The Young in One about same-sex parents principals to avoid using novels Another’s Arms could not be legally justified. in class that “might provoke Jane Rule undue controversy.” (Cover: Doubleday, 1977) The Impressions Series In 1990, Canadian customs officers seized Jack Booth and David Booth, editors this novel en route from the United States Wallpaper In 1991, 30 angry parents entered Rosary Catholic School in Manning, Alta., detained to Glad Day Bookshop in Toronto. The In 2001, a patron the principal and demanded the removal of Impressions. The parents claimed the officers were searching for sexually of the Toronto Public fairy tales and poems in this language arts series for youngsters conveyed morbid, obscene literature, but later released the Library complained Satanic themes. Later, the school board ordered the removal of the books. novel to the importer. The novel, which about the June 2001 depicts gay characters positively, is issue of this glossy legally published and sold in Canada. style magazine. La première The cover features fois. 2 vols. a photograph by Charles Montpetit, Joachim Baldauf editor of three topless Between 1992 and 2002, models—two male secondary schools in and one female— Quebec invited Montpetit standing in the sea. to talk to students about The patron said that this award-winning the female model non-fiction anthology was being used as for teenagers. The a sex object to sell government body the magazine, but that funds such visits the library retained also sent each school its copies. copies of the books to distribute to students. But on five occasions, school authorities belatedly realized that the authors in La première fois had written about sex or The Harry Potter Series Marie Tempête: Le secret d’Emilie sexual experiences. J.K. Rowling Patrick Cothias and Pierre Wachs The schools refused to (Cover: Raincoast Books, 2000) (Cover: Editions Glénat, 1994) distribute the books In 2000, a Christian parent in Corner In 2000, feminists in Hull, Que., began campaigning to remove adult and asked Montpetit Maxine’s Tree Brook, Nfld., complained about the comic books and graphic novels that depict violence against women To Kill a Mockingbird to discuss other works. Diane Léger presence of these popular fantasy from the city’s libraries. In 2001, they persuaded the city council to ban Harper Lee (Cover: Orca Book Publishers, 1990) novels in an elementary school. The “all visual documents … that trivialize and/or condone acts of sexual (Cover: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2002) In 1992, an official of the woodworkers’ trade union in parent objected to the depiction of aggression or sexual violence” from public libraries. Librarians reluctantly In 1991, an African-Canadian organization called PRUDE (Pride B.C. asked for the removal of this children’s book from wizardry and magic, and the school restricted access to 180 books. Among them was Marie Tempête: elementary school libraries in Sechelt, B.C. The official of Race, Unity and Dignity through Education) in Saint John, N.B., principal ordered the books’ removal. Le secret d’Emilie, a graphic novel set in eighteenth-century France. said the book, which tells the story of a girl who tries to sought to remove Lee’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel and Mark Neither the parent nor the principal In 2002, a public outcry in Quebec prompted politicians to repeal protect a tree in B.C.’s rainforest, promoted an anti-logging Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from school reading had read the novels. the ban, and the books returned to the open library shelves. viewpoint. The school board rejected his request. lists. PRUDE disliked the portrayal of racial minorities in both novels.

Le grand cahier Vue Weekly Contes pour buveurs In 2007, the Edmonton Public Library received a complaint about this Agota Kristof attardés local news and entertainment magazine. A patron described Vue Weekly Underground to Canada In the spring of 2003, the father of Michel Tremblay as “a very negative, even dark publication” and objected to the sex ads. Barbara Smucker a 16-year-old girl in St-Jérôme, Que., In 2010, a Christian parent in Laval, Que., The library retained copies in its collection. (Cover: Penguin Books, 2003) complained to school authorities tried to persuade a high school to ban this In 2002, African-Canadians lobbied the and the news media about this novel. collection of macabre short stories. She said Tri-County District School Board in Nova Le grand cahier, which won literary that she did not want her son exposed to Scotia to remove Underground to Canada, awards in Europe, describes the “Satanism and pedophilia.” The school John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night and effects of war on two boys who live The Handmaid’s rejected her demand. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird from in an unnamed country. The parent Tremblay is one of Quebec’s best-known classrooms. The complainants objected Tale described the novel as “very violent authors, and Contes pour buveurs attardés to the depictions of black people and and grossly pornographic.” The has appeared on Grade 10 reading lists the use of the word “nigger” in these (Cover: Seal Books, 1998) school quietly dropped the book in Quebec for years. In the book’s preface, anti-racist novels. The school board In 2008, a parent in from its reading list at the beginning the author says that his stories tackle rejected their request. Toronto complained of the 2003–04 school year. about the use of this homosexuality, incest and encounters with dystopian novel in his the devil, although these references are so son’s Grade 12 English allusive that they are almost undetectable. class. The Handmaid’s Western Standard Tale tells the story In 2006, the Western Standard—a magazine published in Alberta—reprinted eight of 12 of Offred, a woman Danish cartoons about Islam to illustrate a news article. In Calgary, an imam—and later who lives in a future the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities—complained to Alberta’s human rights patriarchal theocracy. commission. They said the cartoons exposed Muslims to hatred or contempt. The parent disliked the In 2008, the commission rejected the complaint. The magazine’s publisher, Ezra Levant, novel’s “profane language,” estimated that he had spent $100,000 defending himself. During the dispute, anti-Christian overtones Maclean’s the Western Standard ceased publication. and themes of “violence” On Oct. 23, 2006, Maclean’s magazine and “sexual degradation.” excerpted Mark Steyn’s bestselling book In 2009, a review panel of America Alone. The book considers the impact of Muslim immigration to Western the Toronto District School democracies. In 2007, the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) filed complaints with Board recommended that three Canadian human rights bodies. The CIC said Steyn’s “flagrantly Islamophobic” the novel be kept in the writing exposed Muslims to hatred and contempt. curricula for Grades 11 The Canadian and Ontario human rights commissions dismissed the complaint and 12. The Handmaid’s without hearing it, but the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal held a hearing in 2008. Tale remained on Grade The tribunal cleared Maclean’s of any wrongdoing. 12 reading lists.

Les nombrils (Series) Three Wishes: Marc Delafontaine Palestinian and and Maryse Dubuc (Cover: Dupuis, 2008) Israeli Children In 2009, a school Speak for troubled teens in Deborah Ellis Laval, Que., pulled (Cover: Groundwood Books, 2004) this comic book series In 2006, the Ontario branch off its library shelves. of the Canadian Jewish School authorities Congress (CJC) objected to feared that the young, the inclusion of this non- thin female characters (Cover: Penguin Books, 1996) In 2011, parents complained to fiction book in a voluntary in the books might Ontario’s Bluewater District School reading program in Grades encourage anorexia Board about the use of this novel in 4–6 of Ontario’s schools. among female students. The Golden Compass Grade 12 English classes. The novel In Three Wishes, children The books returned Philip Pullman tells the story of a Canadian soldier speak frankly about the strife to the library shelves (Cover: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996) in Europe during World War I. One around them in Palestine and In 2007, Ontario’s Halton after the vulnerable woman objected to depictions of Israel. Concerned about the Catholic District School Board girls had graduated. sexual violence and prostitution. “toxic effects” of the book voted to ban Philip Pullman’s Students and others defended the on students’ minds, the CJC trilogy of fantasy novels—The novel’s literary value. The school urged school boards to with- Golden Compass, The Subtle board’s textbook review committee draw Three Wishes from the Knife and The Amber Spyglass— recommended that The Wars be kept reading program. At least five from its schools. The board in the secondary school curriculum, school boards restricted or objected to “atheist” themes Book and and the novel remained in classrooms. denied access to the book. in the British author’s books. Periodical Council A project of the Book and Periodical Council