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Honored Book Pulled From Tampa School's Shelves

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 14, 2008

TAMPA -- An award-winning young-adult book was pulled from the shelves of an elementary school after a review committee determined it was inappropriate for the grade level. "The Land," by Mildred Taylor, will be collected and put on library shelves in middle schools instead.

Ashyaa Brown, an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Turner Elementary School who was reading the book as part of an accelerated reader program, found racial epithets in the book and complained to her father, Darryl, who complained to the school district.

Each school has its own review committee and the nine-member committee at Turner Elementary School in New Tampa met two weeks ago.

"The committee decided that the book, "The Land," will be removed from the media center at Turner and will be sent to library technical services to be donated to a middle school," the report said.

"The subject matter of 'The Land' is above the maturity level of elementary students at Turner," the report said. "Several factors influenced this decision including sexual overtones, brutality/violence and racial slurs. The consensus of the committee spoke to the author's purpose of the story and the accurateness of this historical account of the author's ancestors.

"It is worthy of the book honors it has received," the report said.

Turner is an A school, as designated by the state, where 90 percent of students read at or above their grade level.

"The Land" is classified as a novel for young adults and has been praised for helping promote racial understanding.

"The Land," historical fiction set in post-Civil War Georgia, follows a man who is the son of a prosperous white landowner and a former slave woman. The book was a 2003 Coretta Scott King Author Award recipient.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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