Are These Books in Your School Library?

May 14

Editor's note: The following information is just a sample of what's going on in the libraries in government schools and your public libraries. Virtually every library in the United States is associated with or a member of the American Library Association. Parents and concerned taxpaying citizens need to know what is in their libraries. There are a few private libraries in New Jersey, but most public libraries receive government grants, which are your tax dollars.

We want you to contact us if you find the books in this article or the list below, action@gardenstatefamilies.org, with the following information.

The name of your library
Title of the book or books
Author's name and publisher
and the section of the library where the material is available.

Nothing will change until we act. Let us work to make our libraries and education system safe, age-appropriate, and responsible for the taxpayers, parents, and our children!

Warning: graphic content

By Linda Harvey of Mission America

In 2018, parents in Las Vegas were furious when seventh-graders came home with an assigned book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. One boy asked his mom about a word he didn’t understand – “masturbate.” When Mom looked through the book, she was horrified.

The school’s excuse? To counteract “racism.”

Anti-cop indoctrination prompted parent and law enforcement outrage over a high school’s summer reading list in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The books in question were The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.

Fact-free, depravity-laden agendas are alive and well at your child’s school. The approaches and excuses are many, from “drag queen story hours" to celebrating "LGBT" identities to blatant Islamic indoctrination. Little children need to be introduced to alternative families, according to publishing giant Scholastic.

This school year is coming to a close, yet sexual and mental exploitation happen all year long. Be prepared to look closely at this summer's proposed reading lists. When school resumes next year, parents look again at those reading lists, texts, and library displays. Many of the recommended books belong only in your trash can.

Our nation’s publishers, allied with the American Library Association, have hit on a winning youth marketing strategy: wildly sensational themes, unencumbered (they hope) by parent and teacher objections. Other allies include your teachers' union, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers.

We are urging you to get complete information and think for yourself.

The ALA will attempt to manipulate public opinion by lamenting a crisis of its own making. It’s the annual disinformation campaign called “Banned Books Week.” generally held every September.

This far-left group advocates anything goes and “intellectual freedom”—unless books or media contain traditional, child-friendly Judeo-Christian content. ALA has no problem if its obedient librarians quietly restrict access to such ideas. The American Library Association's mantra is "any material at any time, regardless of age." They oppose any parental notification.

Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute states, “The ALA can’t seem to find an idea too perverse for children and can’t discern an age too young to be exposed to perversion.”

So, in preparation, let’s consider some child-protective realities.

Do you want your child to have nightmares and panic attacks? Then hand them many of the current “award-winning” youth literature selections. They weave tales around the subjects of suicide, addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorders, rape, physical assault and gun violence.

Are these just the books you want your son or daughter curling up with on a rainy night?

Oh, don’t worry--there’s still plenty of anal and oral sex, homosexual/ transgender identities, abortion (and proud of it), X-rated teen hook-ups, vulgar language, rape, dangerous hookup apps and scorn for the Judeo-Christian worldview.

It’s a Satanic stew designed to mess with kids’ minds, souls, and bodies.

For instance, the novel 13 Reasons Why was on American Library Association challenged book list.

"It’s pornographic," claimed some parents in the Lemont, IL, high school district 210. But it also details teen suicide. And since Netflix decided to make a video series based on the story, several actual teen suicides have been reported after binge-watching the program. The story also features rape, bullying and drunk driving.

Is this what most parents hope attracts their kids’ interest?

The American Family Association and the Parents Television Council joined with many other groups to urge Netflix to drop this series. Netflix ignored this plea and charged ahead with production on a new season. The first season was released on Netflix on March 31, 2017. It became the second most-watched series on Netflix at the time of its release. Netflix renewed 13 Reasons Why for a second season due to the success of the initial 13 episodes. The second season was released on May 18, 2018. A third season was released on August 23, 2019; that same month, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, which was released on June 5, 2020.

What can parents do? Two quick rules: one, you must examine everything yourself, and two, the American Library Association, most youth book publishers, and many book review sites are not your friends.

And they have a dirty little secret: their systematic censorship of conservative views is alive and well. Now it’s just labeled “social justice.”

But parents are never supposed to “challenge” books. Of the “Most Challenged Books” listed by the ALA for the past year, most of them contained “LGBT” or sexually explicit themes. They are Thirteen Reasons Why, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Drama, The Kite Runner, George, Sex is a Funny Word, To Kill a Mockingbird(challenged because of the “n” word), The Hate U Give, And Tango Makes Three, and I Am Jazz.

Other recent titles raising parent objections are the following: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Big Hard Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction, Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin, The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (where father rapes daughter, in graphic detail), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

This past year, a new indoctrination method emerged at Northwood High School in northern Indiana. From a suggested reading list, ninth-graders formed teams, chose a book, and then reported to the whole class, essentially peer-to-peer advocacy.

But the sexually inappropriate content, along with the outright leftist propaganda, created a community outcry. Among the books were Die For You by Amy Fellner Dominy (another suicide story), Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann ( main character has a welcome abortion, and Planned Parenthood info given at end of book); and Bang by Barry Lyga, about a boy haunted by his memory of accidentally killing his infant sister.

The good news is that, with leadership from the Indiana Liberty Coalition and others, parent objections called a halt, and the trash-filled reading list was scrapped. Speaking out works.

Racial themes are common reasons – allegedly -- for book challenges. Or excuses for mischaracterizing objections.

ALA says over half of challenged books “…are either written by authors of color or contain content that represents groups or viewpoints outside the mainstream.”

This is their definition of “bigotry” that makes parents object to books like Tyrell by Coe Booth. Yes, I’m sure most thoughtful African-American parents would be okay with a book about a boy who decides not to “sell drugs like his dad” but holds parties where prostitution, underage drinking, and more occur. My pro-family colleague Debbie DeGroff’s excellent research reveals how twisted and inaccurate the ALA and youth book reviewers are.

ALA calls Tyrell a “Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.”

If we object, we are “bigots.” This is a trap to silence us. Guilt us into going away.

The following is a list of LGBTQIA-XYZ +++ themed books for children. This is only a sample.

Gay themed books for minors

1 Beyond Magenta

Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out

Susan Kuklin

2 Love Makes a Family

by Sophie Beer

3 My Two Moms and Me

by Michael Joosten, illustrated by Izak Zenou

4 Daddy, Papa, and Me