The school board in Henning, Minn., debated Wednesday night a staff decision to remove from the district's one library the award-winning graphic novel "This One Summer."
The board voted 4 to 2 to allow the book back in the library under the condition that it be housed in a separate section and be available only to 10th- to 12th-graders. They would need signed parental permission to check it out.
Superintendent Jeremy Olson, along with the school principal and the librarian, had decided last month to remove the book after an elementary school parent raised concerns with the school about it.
The book, which among other prizes won a 2015 Caldecott Honor award, features two tween girls on summer vacation who lurch between childhood and early adolescence. The girls become aware of serious problems among the adults and older teenagers they encounter. Among the topics: unplanned pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, suicide and oral sex.
Olson had previously said that with one library for 390 students in pre-K through 12th grade, the book wasn't appropriate.
The New York Times bestseller was written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki.
Rochelle Olson
