The issue arose this month when Township High School District 214 board member Leslie Pinney flagged books that she said contain vulgar language, brutal imagery or depictions of sexual situations inappropriate for students.

The board is scheduled to vote Thursday night on whether to keep the books as part of the curriculum.

"If the media are bombarding our children with explicit sexual images and graphic violence and prolific profanity, can't a school relent from that?" Pinney said. "Is there a different level of standards? That's my question."

The titles on Pinney's list are "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World" by Michael Pollan, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky, "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers and "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez.

It is the first time in more than 20 years that a reading list has been challenged in the Arlington Heights-based district, said Chuck Venegoni, who heads the English and fine arts departments at Hersey High School. The district uses an extensive review process based on established national reading lists, and the suggestion that teachers are using materials on par with porn is insulting, he said.

"This is not some serendipitous decision to allow someone to do what they felt like doing because they had something about talking about something kinky in front of kids," Venegoni said. "It's insulting to hardworking people who really do care about kids."

Pinney, the mother of a District 214 graduate, admits she has not read all the books. She is not seeking to ban them from district libraries, but in class she would like to replace them with books that address the same themes without explicit material.

Among her objections are a bestiality scene in "Beloved," graphic violence in "The Things They Carried" and masturbation references in "Wallflower."

Venegoni said he has received dozens of e-mails of support from parents but also has had to explain that pornography is not part of the lesson plan.

"For however edgy a few passages taken out of context, there is nothing in any of those books that even remotely approaches what an objective person would call pornography," he said.

Several conservative groups have rallied to Pinney's cause, saying that the books promote porn, which has prompted community members on both sides to flood board members and teachers with e-mail.

In 2005 the American Library Association received more than 400 requests to pull books from the shelves of school and public libraries, a spokeswoman said.

The call to ban books is timeless, but it is important to continue supporting literature that makes readers think, said Mary Dempsey, commissioner of the Chicago Public Library.

Mayor Richard Daley selected "The Things They Carried" in 2003 for the One Book, One Chicago city reading series. The book, about the Vietnam War, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. The themes--love, hate, war, kindness and cruelty--along with the author's ability to convey the harshness of war outweighed concerns, Dempsey said.

"I cannot imagine that language in that book is not said on a battlefield and, candidly, is not said in the corridors of most high schools in the suburbs of Chicago today," she said. "Good literature is supposed to get people to think. And sometimes, good literature takes you out of your comfort zone."

District 214 officials rely on the expertise of teachers and other members of textbook selection committees to scrutinize reading lists used nationwide, said board President William Dussling. The books are geared for juniors and seniors in honors or Advanced Placement courses to prepare them for college, he said. Parents can have their students opt out if they find reading material objectionable, he said.

"There will be accommodations made of something else to read that will still meet the learning points in the class," Dussling said. "It's not a matter of this is it."

The district's six schools have nearly 13,000 students in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mt. Prospect, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows and Wheeling.

Pinney said the system needs to be modified so parents are better informed.

"The opt-out clause is flawed because unless you're digging around the student's backpack, looking at the books and reading them, how exactly will you know what your student is reading?" Pinney said.

Terri Brightwell, whose son is a senior at Rolling Meadows High School, agreed.

"Their standards may not be my standards," she said. "It should be open to a process where parents are involved."

On the other side, Sharon Neff said she trusts the judgment of educators compiling the lists and believes they are introducing subjects to her daughter, Valerie, that will prepare her for life beyond Hersey.

"That's not a watered, diluted version of reality. Without it, the literature isn't as effective," she said. "[Pinney] needs to read the books."

Also ...

Some Parents Say School Assigned Book is Pornographic

Daily Breeze, 10/6/05 - A class-assigned book about life in a street gang has sparked controversy at a Lawndale high school, where some parents are fuming over pages laced with profanity, violence and graphic sex.

Officials at Environmental Charter High School say there is literary merit in Always Running, a gritty memoir authored by former gang member Luis J. Rodriguez and recently assigned to local ninth-graders.

But at least three families have strongly objected to adult language and mature content that includes scenes of drug use and brutality as well as one ultra-specific depiction of oral sex. They insist other moms and dads probably haven't read the offending passages or they'd be equally upset.

"This is as close to pornography as I've ever seen," said Carrie Kruse of Lawndale, who has not allowed her 14-year-old daughter to read the book.

Published by Simon & Schuster, Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. is approved as reading material for grades nine through 12 by the state Department of Education. Nevertheless, it has been a source of debate at public schools across the country since it was first published more than 10 years ago.

John Cragin, executive director of Environmental Charter, which leases space for 300-plus students at Lawndale Christian Church, acknowledged there are explicit scenes in the book. But he also pointed to the redemption of the author, who was able to overcome a bleak life of crime to become a renowned writer.

Though the book has been used in lesson plans for three years, Cragin said no one complained about the memoir until it was assigned recently to freshmen students by English teacher Erik Elward. In response, Cragin and other officials met with parents last week.

As of Wednesday, the book was still required reading for ninth-graders, but parents have been told they can tear out the handful of offending pages without penalties. The executive director described those anecdotes as "inconsequential" to the overall story.

"It's a good book with a good message for students -- especially young students that come from at-risk backgrounds that could be easily led astray," he said.

"We see this as a book of real redemption for individuals," Cragin added. "There are some parts of his life that aren't comfortable. We understand that, and our position is if you're uncomfortable about that then you don't have to read that part of it."

Kruse would just as soon her daughter skip the whole thing.

"It's nothing she needs to read," she said.

Kruse's daughter, Erica Jackman, said she's been spending her English periods in the office while classmates are discussing the book. All things being equal, she said she'd rather see this chapter of her life come to a close.

"I just wish it would end," said Erica, who cites The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks as her favorite literary work.

Rick Leeder of Hawthorne said he was shocked when his son first showed him Rodriguez's book in a doctor's office about two weeks ago.

"He was doing his reading assignment, and he said, 'Dad, I'm not comfortable with this book,' " Leeder said. "At that point I briefly looked at it and I couldn't believe it. I thought it had to be a mistake."

Rather than see his son penalized, he took it upon himself to redact parts of the reader.

"What I did was I took a black magic marker and took out most of the offensive things I found on those particular pages," he said, "because he's going to be required to read the rest of it. Otherwise he's going to fail the semester."

But that won't be the end of it. Leeder said he plans to speak out at tonight's board of trustees meeting.

On the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged books from 1990 to 2000, Always Running is listed at No. 86, right between Song of Solomon by Tony Morrison and Howard Stern's Private Parts.

Rodriguez, reached by telephone Wednesday, acknowledged his book has triggered all sorts of disputes in school districts across the country, most notably in California and Illinois.

Two years ago, a teacher at a Modesto high school reportedly was told to stop using the book after a complaint by a mother who home-schooled her children. Rodriguez says he was even personally barred from bringing his book onto a campus in Kalamazoo, Mich., during a speaking engagement.

The 51-year-old former member of a Los Angeles gang said he didn't write Always Running with classrooms in mind; rather, he wrote it in an unsuccessful bid to keep his own son from taking dad's path to a life of violence. As a father, Rodriguez said he is sympathetic to parents who want to protect their children from racy or explicit concepts, but he also believes the book should be judged on its broader themes.

"Certain books, even if they have graphic scenes, aren't detrimental to kids if they have literary and educational merit," he said.

Moreover, Rodriguez said many of the literary classics passed out in high school English classes fail to grab the attention of budding readers because they don't mirror modern life.

"I think people underestimate (teenagers)," he said. "They use that language. They're doing a lot of things they shouldn't be doing, and the book speaks to that reality."

Still, some parents might feel otherwise, which is why one local superintendent took a pass on the book.

"Is it on our approved list? No, it's not, because I wouldn't approve it," said Cheryl White, who heads the Lawndale-based Centinela Valley Union High School District.

White said she believes it is not her district's place to showcase violence. But the controversy does illustrate the challenges of finding appropriate reading material for high-schoolers.

"It's very difficult to select literature that is going to be meaningful for students, that is going to be good literature and that doesn't have obscenities in it," she said.

Like other charter sites across the state, Environmental Charter is allowed greater flexibility to make staffing and curriculum decisions. But Executive Director Cragin pointed out that Always Running is on the list of state-approved books.

Despite some differences of opinion, Cragin said his discussions with parents have been far from acrimonious. In fact, he said, his families should be applauded for getting involved in students' instructional materials.

"They take a very, very intense interest in the education of their children," he said, "and I am not offended nor do I feel defensive about it at all."

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