Several People at FHN Give Their Opinion on a Book That has been Banned in Multiple Places

By Bella Vassoller, News Staffer

Published: April 8, 2025

(Credit to Michaela Manfull)

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

“The subject matter of the book is about suicide. So that’s obviously a pretty dark topic, and depending on what kind of things are going on in a teenager’s life, I see where that would be concerning. As a parent there are certain things that you don’t want your kid to be exposed to, but my problem with banning books is that I don’t think that it’s fair for a group of people to decide across the board.”

- Lindsey Scheller, English Teacher

(Credit to Michaela Manfull)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

“The book does have some pretty heavy components, theres a lot of emotional stuff that the main character is going through, like self harm, suicide, sexual assault. I can see how people could get caught up in what it’s like for young readers to read about that, but I think that people are being people.”

- Ashley Seiss, English Teacher

(Credit to Michaela Manfull)

Looking for Alaska by John Green

“I really liked the book, so the fact that it’s being banned [in other places] makes me really upset because I feel like that shouldn’t be controlled. People should have the freedom to write whatever they want to write, and people should have the right to read whatever they want to read.”

- Madeline Hecht, 12

(Credit to Michaela Manfull)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

“I can tell you that every student that has ever read ‘The Kite Runner’ in my classes loves it. It’s just that they get it, it’s a redemption story. That book satisfies everything on every AP essay, that book is fantastic. It’s just a very valuable novel for teaching. There’s just one page with a scene that happens in an alley. It’s one page of the book.”

- Amy Stoker, English Teacher

(Credit to Michaela Manfull)

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass

“It definitely has more adult topics, but I think it shouldn’t be banned. There’s some violence and there’s stuff in there that shouldn’t be read by children, so I agree that it might not be good for middle and elementary schools, but I think high schools should be a little bit more lenient.”

- Joanna Jolly, 10

Book Banning

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