School reverses True Diary ban

Richland School Board OKs Sherman Alexie book after second vote

By Josh PetersonThe Richland School Board decides that a highly-debated book originally voted off the district's reading list, will be taught in schools after all.

Originally, the school board voted 3 to 2 to in favor of keeping the Sherman Alexie book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" out of the high school curriculum.

But after reading the book and after some strong public opinion, two of those board members changed their minds.

The book is about a young, native american man struggling with his identity.

Some readers have concerns that the book contains inappropriate themes.How thoughtless people make thoughtless decisions:

Richland School Board reverses course on book ban

By Jacques Von LunenNone of the board members had read Absolutely True when they first voted on it. That was the job of the Instructional Materials Committee, or IMC, established a little more than a year ago to review all books used in Richland schools.

Guay and Donahoe thought that the entire IMC read the book before its members gave it mixed reviews last month.

But to speed up the process, IMC members split up in groups. Each group reads a particular book and then shares its findings with the rest of the members.

Once Guay and Donahoe found out that only part of the committee had read the book, they wanted to revisit their votes against it.

"That was my misunderstanding," Donahoe said Monday.

He read the book two days after the June 14 meeting and found it to be "outstanding," he said.Comment:  Another way to determine if a book is "offensive" is to spend five seconds Googling it. If you see people have praised it and given it awards across America, it's probably a good book.

Duhhh.

For more on Absolutely True Diary, see Young-Adult Fiction Too Dark? and Absolutely True Diary Challenged Again.