Okay? Not Okay.: "The Fault in Our Stars" banned in Riverside School District

Saba Mahmoudi

Four years after being published, one of the most popular young adult novels. “The Fault in Our Stars” by author John Green has been banned in the Riverside Unified School District.

One parent, Karen Krueger from Frank Augustus Middle School, challenged the book after seeing her daughter’s interest, claiming it is not appropriate for ages between 11-13 to be reading it.

The school board voted 6-1 to remove the book and forbid its inclusion at other middle school libraries as well; not even donations of the book are being accepted.

“The Fault in Our Stars” tells a love story between two terminally ill teens and has been translated into 47 different languages, was banned on the grounds of sexual content and inappropriate language.

John Green's bestelling novel "The Fault in Our Stars" was recently banned in the Riverside School District for its use of language and explicit content.
John Green’s bestelling novel “The Fault in Our Stars” was recently banned in the Riverside School District for its use of language and explicit content.

Green ,who is one of the most popular author of young adult genre around the world, has his own unique style which he like to show reality, mixed with humor. He is not afraid to show the difficult and sad parts of reality, his books are always mixed with humor at beginning and then move toward more sad parts, yet that is not where they end, he shows how to deal with that sadness in a healthy and reasonable way.

This is not the first time that Green’s book has been challenged. According to American Library Association in 2012 his book “Looking for Alaska” was the seventh book in the list of frequently challenged books, again challenged for its offensive language and sexual contact.

Green’s response to the challenge was posted through his Tumblr account  after a fan asked him about his reaction.

“I guess I’m both happy and sad, I’m happy because apparently young people in Riverside, California will never witness or experience mortality since they won’t be reading my book, which is great for them,” Green said.

“But I am also sad because I was really hoping I would be able to introduce the idea that human beings die to children of Riverside, California and thereby crush their dreams of immortality.”

Yet it does not mean that everybody in the school board was happy with the decision. Tom Hunt, the school board Vice President, was among those people.

“I am not happy with the way it is been suggested to be removed,” Hunt said.”We are definitely going to revisit this procedure,” Hunt said.

What the school board is failing to see is that the book as whole conveys a deeper meaning. They are denying the whole concept because of a chapter or two. This have almost nothing to do with it being inappropriate it has to do with the maturity of the reader and what it is that they looking for while reading a book. It does not seem fair that because some people have a problem with it, it should become inaccessible to others as well, especially when the books are banned on a seemingly arbitrary basis.