Baby Be-Bop

After fighting for the removal of the book Baby Be-Bop from a Wisconsin, library, the Christian Civil Liberties Union and three other plaintiffs have sued over the book, seeking the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the book and asking for $120,000 in damages because they were exposed to it in a library display.

Accusing the board of submitting to the will of the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, plaintiff Ginny Maziarka declared, We vehemently reject their standards and their principles, and characterized the debate as a propaganda battle to maintain access to inappropriate material. She cautioned that her group would let people know that the library was not a safe place unless it segregated and labeled young adult titles with explicit content.

For the immediate future, West Bend officials will be dealing with the CCLU's legal claim. Describing the novel by celebrated author Francesca Lia Block as explicitly vulgar, racial, and anti-Christian, the complaint by Braun, Joseph Kogelmann, Rev. Cleveland Eden, and Robert Brough explains that the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library, specifically because Baby Be-Bop contains the word 'nigger' and derogatory sexual and political epithets that can incite violence and put one's life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.

After fighting for the removal of the book Baby Be-Bop from a Wisconsin, library, the Christian Civil Liberties Union and three other plaintiffs have sued over the book, seeking the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the book and asking for $120,000 in damages because they were exposed to it in a library display.

Describing the novel by celebrated author Francesca Lia Block as explicitly vulgar, racial, and anti-Christian, the complaint by Braun, Joseph Kogelmann, Rev. Cleveland Eden, and Robert Brough explains that the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library, specifically because Baby Be-Bop contains the word 'nigger' and derogatory sexual and political epithets that can incite violence.

Kids' Right to Read Project interviewed Francesca Lia Block, the author of Baby Be-Bop:

Kids' Right to Read Project: Your books, including specifically Baby Be Bop, Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories, I was a Teenage Fairy , and Witch Baby , have all received widespread acclaim and are well-regarded by book-lovers everywhere. How does it feel for those same books to have appeared at the center of censorship controversies?

Francesca Lia Block: I'm a bit surprised in one way, because the message of all of them is love, tolerance and self-expression. On the other hand, I am not surprised because the message of all of them is love, tolerance and self-expression.

...Read full interview from ncac.org