This very recently published graphic novel is a fictionalized account of real events. In 2013 Chicago Public School (CPS) removed all copies of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis from classrooms. Once administrators determined that they didn't want to book to be used as part of the curriculum it was removed from classrooms, even as classes were being conducted. (A very similar situation occurred in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) around the same time.) The predictable refrain of "we're not banning books" from CPS Administration was evident. The CEO (yes CEO!) of the Chicago Public Schools at the time Barbara Byrd-Bennett claimed to know nothing about the removal of the books, and insisted that CPS is "not in the business of censorship". Turns out she was lying on both counts. Moreover, in 2015 Byrd-Bennett was convicted on bribery charges and spent time in federal prison.
Teachers, librarians, and students worked together to ensure that the book remained in the library, even as it was removed from classrooms. However, CPS was also working at the time to shut down most of the school libraries in the district.
The book doesn't shy away from an explanation that book banners come in both the red and blue variety. A student asks how such a thing can happen in bright blue Chicago. His teacher responds
Censorship is, unfortunately, something humans do. Humans in communist dictatorships, humans in right-wing theocracies, humans in red towns, blue towns...It's an instinct we seem to have for different reasons.
A graphic novel about the banning of a graphic novel. I do like things that are meta.
And I don't expect will will have to wait long before the book banners start challenging this one, too.
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