Orono panel reinstates controversial class book

ORONO – A novel temporarily pulled from a freshman English class at Orono High School has been re-entered into the curriculum after a recommendation from the school’s appointed review committee.

A parent complained Jan. 26 about strong language and vivid descriptions used in Susanna Kaysen’s “Girl, Interrupted” and requested that it be removed from the curriculum.

Superintendent Kelly Clenchy examined excerpts from the book the parent provided and decided the issue required further consideration following the school’s policy to review controversial material.

“The reviews that they’ve looked at largely support the book for high school students,” Clenchy said Wednesday.

David Quimby of Brewer, the parent who made the initial complaint, disagrees. After reading several excerpts from the book that contained “vulgar” language, Quimby said Wednesday he was concerned that this was required reading for his son’s class.

“To me, it’s not an issue of censorship or not a political statement other than the fact that it’s just good old-fashioned right and wrong,” Quimby said.

“Girl, Interrupted” is Kaysen’s memoir of being hospitalized at age 18 in a mental institution, where she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The book contains graphic descriptions of sexual acts, incest and suicide, according to the superintendent and Quimby.

Quimby’s 15-year-old son, a tuition student at Orono High, showed him the book a couple of days after it was assigned as reading.

“He was very uncomfortable with it, and he said that lots of the kids were making comments about it in the hallway,” Quimby said.

Quimby and his ex-wife, Sherry Williams of Veazie, both are concerned about the contents of the book, which he said is something he’d expect to find in the adult section of a bookstore.

“My feeling is that the majority of the parents of those kids are unaware of it, unaware of the contents of the book,” Quimby said. “I talked to over 100 parents, and I’ve not got one response that that’s acceptable, other than the principal and the teacher that assigned it.”

Quimby said he also felt that the review committee – which is made up of the building principal, a teacher from the subject area of the material in question, the school librarian, and a community member – was hand-picked by the principal and that members had made up their minds before the review began.

“The book is an example of how situations, likely some of our students are aware of such as suicide, sexual activity, [and] drug use, are brought out in a way that they can be discussed in context with an adult,” the superintendent read from the review committee’s draft report.

Although the book has been cleared for use, the teacher has decided to wait until after Monday’s school committee meeting, during which the issue is expected to be brought up again, Clenchy said.

“The [review] committee is recommending that there should be an active mechanism for informing parents ahead of time the titles of the books to be read by the class,” he said.

Suggestions for informing parents included a course description booklet or a syllabus handed out at the start of class. Committee members also want to see a statement developed that describes how books and materials are selected for use in the curriculum.

“I will be making some more recommendations, but I need to hear this whole process out first,” Clenchy said.

He explained that if the party who lodged the complaint isn’t satisfied with the outcome, they can petition the school committee to conduct its own review.

“The committee can accept the recommendation of the review committee, or ask for further investigation,” Clenchy said.

Quimby said he will attend the school committee meeting next week and plans to continue talking to other parents.

“There are other books that have won awards that don’t use the ‘F’ word throughout, and don’t use incest, and don’t use the ‘C’ word, that I believe can better suit and serve the purpose than this vulgarness,” Quimby said.