The following is a book report I wrote for school:
The book The Day They Came to Arrest the Book has stood out to me among many that I have read this year. It has really made me think.
It begins by introducing you to a few of the characters at a public high school, George Mason High. Barney Roth, a senior student; his friend, Luke; and their school's principal, Mr. Mick Moore, whom the students have nicknamed "Mighty Mike".
The story itself is begun by a teacher, Nora Baines, who is teaching a class on 19th century history. The first book on their reading list is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The students are to read a portion of this book as homework. From there, the story gets more and more interesting.
When Mrs. Baines's class is resumed the following day, a black student, Gordon McLean, and a girl named Kate state that some of the material in the book offensive. Gordon finds it racist, that it speaks of African Americans in derogatory terms. Kate, on the other hand, finds it sexist, in that the women in the book, in her opinion, are stupid and are also looked upon as inferior.
Mr. McLean, Gordon's father, complains to Mr. Moore that it is offensive and should be censored. Mr. Moore, it is discovered, does not like the controversy and therefore usually deals with book censorship without consulting the school board--which, by the way, is against school policy.
Mrs. Baines is infuriated by this because Mr. Moore tries to convince her to censor the book without making a fuss. Mrs. Baines tells the school's new librarian, Deirdre Fitzgerald, about the conversation in Mr. Moore's office. Ms. Fitzgerald is just as upset.
The students seem torn. Barney doesn't like the idea of banning a book and Luke seems to feel the same way. Kate, on the other hand, is all for throwing the book out of the school, as is Gordon.
A group of parents complain to Mr. Moore and school policy is upheld. The board is elected to decide whether the book should be banned. Among the board members are: Ms. Fitzgerald, a black professor, a newspaper editor, an activist, and two others.
At the hearing, several arguments are given. One party says that the book should be thrown out in its entirety. Another says that it should be banned, but not completely censored--meaning you would have to have written parent and teacher consent to get the book out of the library. The third party says that it should be allowed to stay on the shelves without censorship of any kind.
The vote from the meeting is four to three in favor of censorship but not complete removal, just putting it on a separate shelf, or as one character states, "putting it on house arrest".
Things continue to heat up. Barney, as head of the school newspaper, writes how he is all for letting the book stay public in the George Mason Standard.
Barney then decides to talk to the school's former librarian, Karen Salters. Mrs. Salters makes it clear that she did not leave the school because she wanted to. She says that she was forced to resign by Mighty Mike.
She tells Barney that Mr. Moore has been censoring books for years--even going so far as to rip pages out of books that he found offensive, even the Bible. She says that she finally had had enough of his nonsense and argued with him. Mr. Moore decided that firing her was not a good idea as she could go public with all that she knew. He therefore decided to make her working likfe miserable until she resigned.
Things reach such a climax that it becomes national news. Another hearing is planned, this time on television.
The hearing goes pretty much the same as the first until the end. A young black student stands.
He speaks his mind concerning Huckleberry Finn. He says that he is glad that he was able to read the book, that he wasn't forbidden to do so. He speaks strongly.
The vote from the first hearing is overturned and Huck Finn is enabled to go free, so to speak.
The Day They Came to Arrest the Book ends in more of a question than an answer. Mr. Moore has just been thinking of how they could change board members and Kate, Barney, and Luke are discussing the outcome of the vote. Kate can't believe that she stood up for the rights of blacks only to have a black student tell her it wasn't any of her business what he read. Barney and Luke are glad it's over and don't harbor any bad feelings toward Kate even though she insulted them several times over their feelings about the book.
At first, beginning this book, I didn't thinkI would like it.I'm not normally one to try and involve myself in controversy and this is ver controversial. On the one hand, you have those who say Huckleberry Finn is racist and sexist and on the other hand, you have those who say it is actually speaks against racism and sexism.
My personal opinion is more to the latter. I have nothing against blacks and I certainly have nothing against women being a woman myself, but I believe that every book out there is offensive to someone somewhere.
In conclusion, I believe that The Day They Came to Arrest the Book is a great book. It faces some very controversial issues, yes, but in its entirety, I believe this book should be read by every student.
The End
Be warned, though, if you do get the notion to read this book, it has some language in it. Not very much, but this author seems to find that it adds emphasis to curse. I disagree, but I was willing to overlook it since there wasn't very much.
Talk to ya later!
~Emily
