From Chris Boyette's 1-28-22 CNN report entitled "A Tennessee School Board Removed the Graphic Novel 'Maus,' About the Holocaust, From Curriculum Due to Language and Nudity Concerns":
"Maus," the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the experiences of Holocaust survivors that was recently banned by a Tennessee school board, has made the Amazon best-seller list.
As of Friday night, a hardcopy version of the serialized work by Art Spiegelman was listed as the online retailer's #9 top seller.
Earlier this month, "Maus" was removed from an eighth-grade English language arts curriculum by the McMinn County, Tennessee, Board of Education over concerns about "rough, objectionable language" and a drawing of a nude woman.
The board voted 10-0 to remove the book from the curriculum, saying it should be replaced, if possible, with another book without content deemed objectionable.
"Maus" is a graphic novel by Spiegelman, a comic artist, that follows his Jewish parents in 1940s Poland from their early experiences of anti-Semitism to their internment in Auschwitz. The novel is intercut with the young author's attempts to coax the story out of his father as an old man. It depicts Jewish people as mice and Nazis as cats.
The minutes of the January 10 meeting show McMinn County Director of Schools Lee Parkison addressed the board about the book before voting took place.
"The values of the county are understood. There is some rough, objectionable language in this book and knowing that and hearing from many of you and discussing it, two or three of you came by my office to discuss that," Parkison said.
Parkison said he spoke to an attorney and suggested redacting the profanity and the drawing of the woman, according to the minutes posted on the school board's website. But the board discussed concerns over copyright issues they may face for altering the book.
Ultimately, the board reached the unanimous vote to remove the book after discussing other aspects surrounding the decision, including state regulations, the core curriculum and the possibility of finding a book to replace "Maus."
CNN has reached out to Parkison and all members of the McMinn County School Board for further comment on the decision.
"I'm trying to, like, wrap my brain around it," Spiegelman said on CNN's "New Day" when asked for his reaction in an interview Thursday.....
'Maus' Author Reacts to His Book Being Banned (1-27-22):
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