CADOTT, Wis. – The Cadott School Board began steering a middle course – cowardly, courageously or thoughtfully depending on your point of view – about censoring books in the grade school library. A parent had asked that 12 books / The books dealt with sex education and gender identity be banned. They were fiction and nonfiction. A committee of community members and students appointed to study the request said: “No way to a book ban” But a handful of parents led by parent Casey Yeager appealed. All the books, by the way, are acclaimed critically in national library and educational reviews. In a 4-3 decision, the Board voted to ban one book, to keep three books on the shelves, and to put two on a limited access list. The fate of the other protested titles remains under review.
Cadott schools profile
Cadott, population 1,400, is in Chippewa County east of Chippewa Falls. The School District had 880 pupils with 66 teachers. The School Board motto: “To challenge each and every student to reach his or her full potential.”
Banned: “Protest Movements: Then and Now” by Eric Braun. Nonfiction analysis on 1960s protest movements and of how things changed for the better, what might have been worse, and whence the future.
Limited access: “The Baby Tree,” a picture book by Sophie Blackall. About a curious little boy who asks everyone from his babysitter to the mailman about where babies come from. He gets all sorts of funny answers before his parents gently set him straight. The book has won awards as age-appropriate to amuse and engage readers. Available only from a guidance counselor.
Limited Access: “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag” Rob Sanders and illustrator Steven Salerno. With quotes from Harvey Milk that shed light on love, hope and life. Available only to fourth grade and above.
Still on shelves: “Melissa’s Story, a.k.a. George” by Alex Gino. A children’s novel about a transgender fourth-grader who is struggling to be herself to the rest of the world. The rest of the world sees Melissa as George, a boy.
Still on shelves: “The Deepest Breath” by Meg Graham. A middle grade novel told in verse about Stevie, a young girl reckoning with anxiety about the many things she has yet to understand—including her feelings about her friend Chloe.
Still on shelves: “Hurricane Child” by Kacen Callender. A children’s novel, set in the Virgin Islands, about a girl who is bullied by students and faculty due to the color of her skin. In a search for mother, who abandoned the family, she discovers her love for another girl.