Sensible outcome in recent book flap

Since long before Gutenberg started cranking his first press, books have been viewed as both essential and dangerous.

They broaden horizons, incite thought, teach us and sometimes disturb us. Sometimes they show us places we'd rather not see.

Through the years, we've seen politicians and churches tell us what we should and shouldn't read. In some cases, that's resulted in books being banned or burned. We, of course, find that sort of blanket censorship anathema to the principles upon which this country was founded.

But when it's parents who find a book objectionable - for instance, a book on a required reading list in school - we view it differently. After all, the motives are purer. I don't want my kid to eat hot dogs every day, so I pack him a nutritious lunch. I don't want my high school freshman reading a passage including sexual situations, so he should be able to read something else.

Such is the case at Antioch High School, where concerns from some parents over the salty language and subject matter in the teen book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," brought into question whether the book - a National Book Award winner - should be pulled from the school's required reading list. It's a frank exploration of teen angst that includes some of the language and prurient interests common among boys of that age.

Look around at required reading lists and you'll see all manner of classic literature that stirred significant debate in its time: "The Scarlet Letter," "The Grapes of Wrath," "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "1984," "Native Son" and "Catcher in the Rye."

Where would our understanding of the written word and mankind be without these books?

We appreciate parents' desire to protect their children from certain things at certain ages. But one reason "Part-Time Indian" is so popular is because it lures 14-year-old boys into reading.

And, as we all know, books are a gateway drug to lifelong learning.

Parents are better off talking to their kids about what they're reading, listening to, watching or playing than outright banning them from it. Good grief, even Harry Potter books have been condemned and burned for glorifying the occult.

The story of "Part-Time Indian" has a happy ending - not just the book, but the controversy.

Rather than yank the book out of school, board members and administrators took the time to read it. And decided to keep it on the required list ... while providing another title for those students whose parents object to it.

That outcome was very similar to a case in Northwest Suburban High School District 214 in 2006, where a new school board member challenged a number of books on the required list.

What a sensible solution that demonstrates tolerance for people of different faiths, lifestyles and values.