"Flamer," a graphic (comic book style) novel, has been in national news stories and now Wentzville and Rockwood parents are talking about it on social media, after finding out it's in their district's school libraries, too.
They say the book is inappropriate for minors due to its juvenile, raunchy references to sex acts, and profanity.
WARNING: MATURE CONTENT
Here's a scene from page 131.
It depicts a game at camp, where boys are taking turns ejaculating into a bottle and whoever doesn't do it has to drink the contents in the bottle.
In the next drawing, a boy has his pants down, ready to take his turn.
The boy, a fictional 14 year old Boy Scout, also learns that "taking care of business" means masturbating, when he sees another boy sitting on a cot in the tent, with his pants down around his ankles.
The book also contains multiple instances of "f*ck," "sh*t," "as*hole," and more. There are also other immature/irreverent references to sex acts, suicidal ideation and Catholicism, seen in additional pages below.
One Rockwood mom told us: "I know my middle schooler uses profanity. I know kids talk about inappropriate things on the bus. It's not that. It's that I don't want it to be so normalized that it's part of what our kids can pick out in school libraries and read for English Language Arts classes."
The book will be available to her 14-year-old next year, as a 9th grader. It's in Eureka, Rockwood Summit and Lafayette high schools.
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One of several references to Catholicism.
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Readers wouldn't know this content is in the book from the description that is online in the database that school libraries use.
Here are some of the negative reviews left about the book on Amazon.com.
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| A note from the book's author. |
Note:
Rockwood librarians don't read books before they put them on school library shelves. As a policy, they also don't read customer reviews found on sites like Amazon or Common Sense Media. They use "professional" reviews and recommendations from the American Library Association.
Parents in Rockwood have not formally challenged "Flamer." Many are just now finding out about it.
When speaking in general about books questioned by parents, Rockwood administrators have consistently stated that they are trying to offer diverse perspectives. This book has one. It was written by a self-described gay man who says the book is based on his experiences growing up as a gay Boy Scout.
WILL A BILL WAITING FOR THE GOVERNOR'S SIGNATURE MEAN THIS BOOK CAN'T BE IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES?
A bill from this session was recently sent to Missouri's governor to sign, and it may have more teeth than similar obscenity laws previously on the books. This is the link to the text of the law:
SB 775
WHAT DOES ROCKWOOD SAY
Rockwood administrators have made the distinction that students choose whether to read the books in district libraries; that they are not assigned reading.
Students, however, can choose books from the library to read for their classes.
So, in that sense, books such as "Flamer" can be read for English Language Arts.
Check back for updates.
