The graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel is one of the five different books that author Dave Eggers is offering for free to high school seniors in Rapid City, South Dakota, in response to a decision by the local school board to ban and destroy around 400 copies they own.
In an announcement on McSweeney's Internet Tendency, the plan is outlined in detail. To counter the ban and planned destruction of How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, The Circle by Eggers and Fun Home by Bechdel, students are directed to a local bookstore called Mitzi's Books in Rapid City where they will given free copies. Students can also email amanda@daveeggers.net directly and have the books shipped to them. "The mass destruction of books by school boards is an unconscionable horror," said Eggers, "And the freethinking young people of South Dakota shouldn't be subjected to it. For every copy the school board destroys, let's add a new one to the local circulation."
In addition to the offer of replacing the banned books, Eggers will travel to Rapid City on May 16, the day before the next school board meeting there. He plans to hold a special event at Mitzi's Books and invites students and teachers to join him to discuss the books and their upcoming destruction. Eggers also hopes to entice some of the other authors of the banned books to attend. "Come and be heard!" the announcement concludes before advising that more details are forthcoming.
Eggers' novel satirizes internet age culture and values while Bechdel's memoir details her complicated relationship with her father. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was made into a 2012 feature film and has been banned in other schools due to sexual content and drug and alcohol use. The other two books by Mbue and Evaristo both feature prominent Black characters from Africa and the United Kingdom, respectively.
School book bans have been much in the news in 2022, with graphic novels Maus and V for Vendetta making headlines at the beginning of the year. A poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov found that the majority of United States citizens are opposed to such practices. The results had percentages in the 80s against banning books for a variety of subjects from criticizing U.S. history (83 percent) to depicting slavery and discussing race (87 percent). Critical race theory proved the be the most divisive issue along political party lines, with 81 percent of Democrats holding a favorable view of it while 86 percent of Republicans viewed it unfavorably. Independents we relatively split on that subject, 47 percent for and 53 percent against.
Source: McSweeney's