Vote bars 3 books from Brevard school shelves; more slated for review

One mom spoke of allowing parental rights for all — even those with differing opinions.

Another discussed fears about kids reading explicit books and learning about topics she called age-inappropriate.

A teen spoke of her experience with sexual assault.

In the end and after an emotion-packed meeting, three poetry collections were the first books to be officially barred for the next eight years from the shelves of Brevard Public Schools libraries and classrooms — and more books may be joining their ranks later this summer.

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The book committee, made up of five board-appointed members and facilitated by Stephanie Soliven, assistant superintendent for secondary leading and learning, and a district media specialist, met Friday to discuss the first three books from a growing list of challenged titles: "Milk and Honey" "The Sun and Her Flowers" and "Home Body," all by author Rupi Kaur.

The poetry books, published in 2014, 2017 and 2020 respectively, were challenged on the grounds of sexual content and rape, discussions of suicide and self-harm, infanticide and more. According to PEN America, "Milk and Honey" was tied with "This Book Is Gay" by Juno Dawson and "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison as the ninth most-banned book in America at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year.

Michelle Beavers, appointed by school board members Gene Trent, and Ashley Hall, appointed by Megan Wright, board vice chair, both placed a strong focus on the sexual content of the books, saying it outweighed the non-explicit content in the books. Beavers even added that her favorite poem was from "The Sun and All Her Flowers," but she was still in favor of removing the book.

"Clearly, that's against statutes," she said, holding up copies of drawings from the book, which depicted outlines of naked bodies. "It's against statutes. We're done. That's it."

Paul Roub, board member Jennifer Jenkin's appointee, was the most lenient on the committee, arguing that those opposed to the books were cherry-picking small excerpts and that the books as whole texts were educational and possessed literary value.

"To read a few excerpts and to say, 'Well, this is a book about that,' and to misrepresent some of those excerpts and say, 'Look, this is a book about enjoying childhood rape' — oh, god, please read the book again," he said. "No, it's not. Holy crap. Please read the book again."

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The meeting went book by book, beginning with challenger Karen Colby explaining why she wanted "Milk and Honey" pulled from libraries.

Community members were then invited to address the committee, followed by a discussion among committee members and a vote that decided whether or not to remove the book. The process was then repeated for “The Sun and Her Flowers” and “Homebody."

About 20 community members attended, with more than half speaking during the public comment opportunities. Though the majority of the committee was in favor of removing the books, most of the public was vehemently opposed, with many referencing personal experiences and how having books with similar content was helpful or would have been helpful during their school years.

“Unfortunately, just like in ‘Milk and Honey,’ my experience was at 5 years old,” said Abigail Aguilar, referencing a sexual assault. “That book is doing a good job at representing the experience from a victim’s perspective, and it honestly made me happy that we’re talking about this.”

Josephine Griffith, a high-schooler, shared that "Milk and Honey" helped her process traumatic experiences she had gone through as a child.

"Milk and Honey" "The Sun and Her Flowers" and "Home Body," all by author Rupi Kaur.

“This book helped me come out about the crimes that were committed,” she said. “Yes, you could say this does not belong in schools, although sexual abuse on children happens all the time in schools. So until that’s figured out, I think this book is the least of your concerns in BPS.”

Others encouraged concerned parents to utilize BPS' system to opt their children out of reading certain books within the library system, but to keep the books available for those whose parents don't share similar concerns.

"You have options, but you're taking ours away," said Amy Roub. "That's not liberty at all. It's fascism. Liberty for me and not for thee."

A handful of the public agreed the books should be pulled from shelves, citing concerns about the texts “slipping into the hands” of children who had not been exposed to topics such as rape.

“These hands could slip into the hands of elementary, middle-school or young high school students,” Deborah Crisafulli said, adding there were specific words and phrases about sex in “Milk and Honey” that she wouldn’t want children to read.

“Come on, we owe these kids our best. Let them be kids for as long as possible. This is not rocket science, it is common sense.”

Katie Delaney questioned the appropriateness of the books for kids who haven’t experienced things such as sexual trauma.

“What about the kids who haven’t been through these traumatic events, and they pick up this book, know nothing about it, have loving parents at home that protect them, and they see this content?” she said.

“If you read about this stuff, it warps your reality. It warps what you think is normal.”

Though the committee leaned toward "erring on the side of caution" — something the Florida Department of Education advises media specialists to do when considering what books to keep in their libraries — their opinions about the books varied.

Hall said she was not uncomfortable with some topics mentioned in the books, such as suicide, but the sexual content was inappropriate.

"Unfortunately, we are here because somewhere along the line, content got in (libraries) that is arguably and very apparent that it's inappropriate for school-aged children," she said.

"So we can call it fascism, we can call it banning, we can do whatever, but we also as a society put the restrictions on things. And in a school setting, this book is not appropriate for public school, no matter the age, in my opinion."

Sheri-Lynn Diskin, appointed by school board chair Matt Susin, and Michael Howell, appointed by board member Katye Campbell, found educational value in the books. Still, both weighed the options of potentially placing limits on the books, such as allowing only students of a certain grade level to check them out of the library, putting them behind media specialists' desks or removing them from libraries but allowing teachers and counselors to use them in curriculums or to help struggling students.

Howell said some books would have to be removed because of small sections, adding that that was "100% unfair."

"With these in particular, there's a lot of beneficial content," he said, referencing the three Kaur books. "But we are guided by the statutes and laws that have been put in place."

Diskin, who said she especially appreciated "Milk and Honey," argued that much of the writing was not explicit by itself and could be left up to interpretation, but the drawings made the writing more sexually explicit.

"It's one of those 'If you know, you know' kind of texts," she said. "That's the benefit of poetry."

She added that she thought "Milk and Honey" specifically might be beneficial to supplement BPS' mental health curriculum for sixth- through 12th-graders.

Ultimately the committee decided to remove the book entirely.

The three books will not be allowed in classrooms or libraries for the next eight years, and that decision cannot be appealed, according to policy.

Future committee meetings are scheduled through October, with the committee set to discuss "A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas, "Tilt" by Ellen Hopkins, "Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins, "Sold" by Patricia McCormick, "The Nowhere Girls" by Amy Reed, "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. Other titles on the list of 32 books are do not have scheduled dates.

The current schedule could change as the book review policy is once again redone by the board, Soliven said.

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Committee vote officially bars 3 books from Brevard school shelves