Two novels returned to Henrico school libraries after being removed for review

Eight copies of the young adult novel “Out of Darkness” were returned to the shelves of Henrico County Public Schools libraries this week after being removed late last year.

A woman criticized the book's sexual content at a Henrico School Board meeting in October. She ultimately declined to submit a formal request for reconsideration, but the HCPS division leadership team submitted the form to formally request a review from the Instructional Materials Review Committee.

Members of the IMRC met in January to review the request. The meeting was not open to the public.

After reviewing the book, the IMRC recommended that it remain in high school libraries.

The novel’s author, Ashley Hope Perez, said that the restoration of the book is “evidence of  school leaders putting the focus back on the students they are to serve."

Less than two weeks after “Out of Darkness” was removed from HCPS libraries, a parent challenged a young adult novel about a gay wizard.

Without saying the name of the book out loud, the Henrico School Board voted on Thursday to return the single copy of “I’m a Gay Wizard” to Godwin High School.

“I think that in those situations, where school (leaders) are re-orienting towards creating access to diverse literature and to meeting a wide range of needs and school libraries, they are motivated by a fuller understanding of how kids read, and why kids read and what these books actually do for young people,” Perez told the Citizen.

Both books are optional reading material available for student check out from the library and are not part of the required curriculum.

While the board voted to keep “I’m a Gay Wizard,” they did not have to vote on “Out of Darkness” because the review was made by instructional leadership and there was “no formal challenge,” according to HCPS spokeswoman Eileen Cox.

The action was, howver, a formal request for review and the form filled out by HCPS leadership is the same form that a parent would fill out if he or she was challenging a book.

HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell concurred with the recommendation to keep “Out of Darkness” in high school libraries, according to Cox.

The IMRC report states that “Out of Darkness” as a whole is powerful, and its themes reflect racism, classism, segregation and love.

“The story is relevant because it brings to light prejudices and traumas that minorities and women dealt with during that time and still do today,” the report states. “The book does contain strong language which is used to offer insight to overt and covert racism and sexism and how it impacts the characters. None of the language was inappropriate nor does it distract from the story. It is simply a reflection of real characters and the time period.”

The novel tells the story of a romance between a young Mexican American woman and a young African American man during the 1937 New London School explosion. The story explores what it was like to love across color lines during that historical moment in Texas.

The woman who triggered the review, Susan DuPuis, read an excerpt at an October school board meeting that detailed a sexual interaction between a teenage girl and an adult man. In its report, the IMRC said that the excerpt read aloud is not representative of the entire book.

In its recommendation to the school board, the IMRC wrote that the novel “I’m a Gay Wizard” by V.S. Santoni illustrates the effects of bullying and hurtful comments that occur toward people for different reasons.

“With so few books for LGBTQ+ students, this book provides visibility, representation, and empathy for students,” the report states. “In a time when kids have access to everything on their phones and social media, we don’t want to prevent them from reading books.”

According to the report, the parent who challenged the book attended the IMRC meeting and said he felt the book is inappropriate for “people of any age, but most certainly anyone who is a minor.” The parent also stated he did not read the entire book, but he shared that one passage was graphic and inappropriate thus the entire book should not be available for anyone in a school library.

In the initial request for review, the parent objected to the “very graphic detail” of a boy in the book performing oral sex on another boy character.

“In general, when review committees are actually formed and actually follow their procedure and their recommendations are actually upheld, more often than not, books are returned,” said Nora Pelizzari, the communications director for the National Coalition Against Censorship.

The IMRC committee has 41 members and changes every year, with members serving for three years. In general, the committee includes a school board member, the chief learning officer, directors of instruction, literacy specialists, parents, school administrators, librarians, and teachers.

There's been a significant uptick in book challenges across the U.S. this academic year. Pelizzari said that for the past few years, the majority of book challenges have been related to stories about queer characters, and this year has seen a significant uptick in challenges to books that address race or racism.

The last time the review process was conducted in HCPS before "Out of Darkness" was in 2011, according to Cox.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen’s education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar. Sign up here for her free weekly education newsletter.