These young adult graphic novels available Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, at the Pendleton Public Library have characters exploring LGBTQ+ themes of identity. A parent in the Helix School District challenged these and other books with LGBTQ+ themes and character that were available in a middle school classroom at the Helix Charter School.

HELIX — Each of the 18 books the Helix Charter School reviewed earlier this year focused on LGBTQ+ characters or had LGBTQ+ references.

When the East Oregonian reported the complaints, Superintendent and Principal Brad Bixler declined to share the book titles. The EO made a public records request and received the list of titles of the books as well as what decision was made about each of them.

The challenges against LGBTQ+ books fits into a larger trend across the country. Book challenges and bans are increasing nationwide, often attributed to concerns about what material and kinds of stories young people should be able to access.

Additional information from the records request contradicts what Bixler initially said about the situation.

Reality check: Revelations from public records

Based on conversations with Bixler, the EO reported the books had been in the middle school section of the library. Many of the books had to be moved to the high school section, he said, which is restricted so only high school students can access it, since kindergartners through seniors are in the same building.

However, none of the books were part of Helix’s school library. Instead, the books were in the classroom of middle school English language arts teacher Sara Phinney. She brought them to her classroom library, a common practice for teachers across the country.

Bixler in his defense said he never specified what library they were in — the school library or a teacher’s. He mentioned there being a separate section in the library for high school students, which is true, just not relevant in this situation, which the EO did not know at the time.

Bixler originally said the challenges were due to language. After the records request, he said the complaints were based on the LGBTQ+ nature of the books as well as the language in each. Bixler also admitted he did not provide a complete picture of what was happening with the challenges to the books.

“I just didn’t give you all of the information,” he said. “I gave you information on what I thought was pertinent on why the books were adjusted.”

The pertinent information

According to public records Bixler provided per the EO’s request, one person complained about all 18 books based on the books’ LGBTQ+ themes and language.

“I directed the (review) team that LGBTQ (discourse) would not be anything that would restrict a book from being in Helix and gave them information concerning discrimination as well as our policy,” Bixler said of the review process. “The complaint couldn’t and wouldn’t be based on LGBTQ (identities) or any other protected class.”

Bixler, Helix Charter School staff and parents composed the group of reviewers.

Based on written notes alongside the conclusions, the decision about each book was based on language, such as whether there were swear words, as well as characters’ ages and behavior, to determine how relevant the story might be to middle school students.

Phinney said in an email her classroom library has nearly 500 books and each of the challenged books was tagged as LGBTQ+ in her collection. She said she was not involved in the review process or decisions.

Decisions made

Of the 18 books, the review group left six in the classroom, identified 11 as high school level and selected one for removal from the school entirely. Bixler said he does not know whether Phinney gave the books to a high school educator or took them home, but they no longer can be in a middle school classroom.

One person reviewed nine of the books and two people reviewed seven. No one reviewed two of the “Heartstopper” graphic novel series by Alice Oseman — the third and fourth volumes. The committee determined the series’ first two books were high school level.

One person reviewed Kacen Callender’s “This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story,” which the committee removed from the school for “graphic explicit sexual descriptions, (and) language.”

According to Pendleton Public Library’s distributor, Ingram, and the Accelerated Reader website, a program for schools to monitor students’ reading progress, Callender’s book has a target age group of 14 and older. Accelerated Reader says the book is likely of interest to those in upper grades, meaning grades nine through 12, based on the book’s content and professionals’ assessment of age appropriateness.

“However,” the Accelerated Reader website says, “the final decision as to whether the content of a specific book is appropriate for a particular student is the responsibility of school librarians, teachers and parents.”

Of the challenged books that were designated high school level after review, none were targeted or listed as of interest for middle schoolers, according to Ingram and Accelerated Reader, though some had age ranges starting at 14, which is often the age of eighth graders. The books designated by Ingram and Accelerated Reader for middle grades were allowed to stay.

Is age appropriateness even appropriate?

However, sometimes middle school students are interested in and ready to read books designated for older students, and various databases may classify recommended ages differently.

Blue Mountain Community College Library Director Kristin Williams said age appropriateness can be a complicated discussion.

“What does it even mean? Are we talking about reading level or content?” she said. “With each kid, the considerations are different.”

Some students are mature and advanced enough readers in middle school to be reading books targeted to high schoolers, but others aren’t.

Williams said challenges to books in schools are different from those in public libraries.

When children check out books at a public library, their guardian is usually present to monitor what they borrow. But at school, there is less oversight, especially in a school such as Helix where students of all grade levels share one library.

In this case, it wasn’t that elementary school kids were reading inappropriate high school books, because the books weren’t in the school library. These were books an educator had selected, believing they would be appropriate for the students she teaches.

Phinney said in an email that each of the challenged books had “received positive reviews and been recommended by professional review sources” such as School Library Journal, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.

Those sources indicated these books were appropriate for audiences, including middle school-aged students, in grades six through eight, and around ages 11 through 14, she said.

“Some of the books may appeal more to readers at the older end of the middle school age range, extending into high school, and would typically be classified as teen/young adult fiction,” Phinney wrote.

“The classroom library also contains books that may appeal more to readers at the younger end of the middle school age range, extending into elementary school,” she said. “I have included a broad range of books to allow students to select books that are at the right reading level and interest level for them.”

At least one parent, and some reviewers, disagreed with those selections.

Windows and mirrors

Heather Estrada, district director for the Umatilla County Special Library District, said one difference between teachers’ classroom libraries and school or public libraries is there tend to be fewer explicit policies in place in classroom collections.

Teachers make decisions to have a varied selection for their students, she said, just like any librarian, but it’s a more fluid situation because of the lack of clear policies.

From what she knows of Helix’s situation, Estrada said, “It sounds like they dealt with it correctly and respectfully and responsibly.”

Even though the books aren’t allowed in Phinney’s classroom, they can be present elsewhere in the school and also may be found through public libraries.

“Nothing has been banned or shut down or (is) completely off limits,” she said.

Still, restricting books limits who can access those stories and what kinds of stories are accessible.

“I think it’s really hard because parents are making complaints out of real concern for their kids,” Williams, the BMCC librarian, said. “It’s understandable that parents want to be concerned about their kids.”

At the same time, she said, books are an opportunity for students to gain insight into their own lives and the lives of others. In librarian terms, books can be windows and mirrors.

Williams also said although the school cannot control what books are challenged, such as every book being LGBTQ+, they can control their response to it.

“When we’re limiting the kinds of windows and mirrors kids have access to,” Williams said, “we’re limiting their ability to learn about themselves and their classmates, and I think that’s really sad.”

Appropriate for middle school

• The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
• Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
• Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
• The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey
• Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Little Women by Bre Indigo
• The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson

Not appropriate for middle school / Appropriate for high school

• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
• Heartstopper, Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
• Heartstopper, Volume 2 by Alice Oseman
• Heartstopper, Volume 3 by Alice Oseman
• Heartstopper, Volume 4 by Alice Oseman
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen
• Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
• The Drowning Summer by Christine Lynn Herman

Not appropriate for Helix students of any age

• This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender