The Mat-Su Valley Banned Book Challenge

I have always been a reader. Hailing from a small religious farming community in Idaho, reading meant escape, possibility and opportunity. I loved books, even the books that I did not like (William Faulkner’s “The Sound and The Fury”). In my late teens, I came upon the Time Magazine’s List of the 100 Best English Language Novels since 1923. There are current versions of the list, but this was back in about 1990. I began to use that list as my guide to self-required reading. It should come as no surprise that the following books were on that list: “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller; “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald; and “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison.

So, last week, I was disturbed and disappointed to discover that these were three of the books “removed from the curriculum” for high school English by the Matanuska Susitna Borough School Board. The other two titles removed were just as shocking. Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. I know “Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou was nominated for the National Book Award in 1970 and, in 2011, Time Magazine added this powerful book to its list of 100 Best.

“Removed from the curriculum” is an interesting phrase. A few would argue, and argue they have, that it does not mean “ban,” which I believe is a distinction without a difference. But, perhaps more importantly, is what “removed from the curriculum” does mean. It means that five of our School Board members did not trust their curriculum committee, the administration, our educators and parents to make informed and considered decisions about the curriculum. It means that high school teachers can no longer lead their students through discussions of these important literary works and the complex real-life issues they explore. It means that our students will be less prepared for college. It means that our students will be denied the excitement of delving into a complex work and coming out the other side, together with their classmates and teacher, with a better understanding of the world around them. That is what “removed from the curriculum” means and that is a problem.

The Mat-Su Valley Banned Book Challenge does not solve that problem. We cannot replace the benefit of studying a great literary work with an educator by simply offering a prize drawing to high schoolers to read these books. But we need to do something to encourage our local students to seek out these great works and learn from them. We need to do something to show our local students that adults in the community are concerned about their education and are willing to act when the wrong action is taken. And the School Board was wrong.

The Mat-Su Valley Banned Book Challenge was organized to get students excited about reading these five titles.

What began as a challenge by Dalrymple Law, PC and a drawing for five $100 prizes, has grown almost ten-fold. Every high school student in the Matanuska Susitna Borough School District is eligible to complete the challenge, including home school students, graduating 8th graders and graduating Seniors (class of 2020), by reading all five books by August 9, 2020.

To enter, an eligible student or their parent can submit the student’s name and phone number through Messenger on our Facebook page, The Mat-Su Valley Banned Book Challenge, or email admin@matsulaw.com and then start reading. There will not be a test or an essay at the end of the summer, but we will have volunteers to talk with challengers about the books. An official announcement regarding prizes will be made after the 2019-20 school year ends. We can also assist with getting copies of the books out to our community.

DanaLyn Dalrymple is a mom, grandma, local attorney, small business owner and community volunteer. She lives in Palmer, Alaska. Together with Rachel Gernat and Stephanie Twing, she organized the Mat-Su Valley Banned Book Challenge.