Challenged
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at the Midvalley Junior-Senior High School in Scranton, Pa. (1982) because it contains "four-letter words and talked about masturbation, birth control, and disobedience to parents"; challenged at the Park Hill, Mo. South Junior High School library (1982) where it was housed on restricted shelves because the book promotes "the stranglehold of humanism on life in America"; challenged at the Orlando, Fla. schools (1982); the Akron, Ohio School District libraries (1983); challenged at the Howard- Suamico, Wis. High School (1983) because "it demoralizes marital sex." Challenged and eventually moved from the Holdrege, Nebr. Public Library young adult section to the adult section (1984) because the "book is pornographic and does not promote the sanctity of life, family life." Challenged at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Public Library (1984) because it is "pornography and explores areas God didn't intend to explore outside of marriage." Placed on a restricted shelf at Patrick County, Va. School Board (1986). Challenged at the Campbell County, Wyo. school libraries (1986) because it is "pornographic" and would encourage young readers "to experiment with sexual encounters." Challenged at the Moreno Valley, Calif. Unified School District libraries (1987) because it "contains profanity, sexual situations, and themes that allegedly encourage disrespectful behavior." Challenged at the Marshwood Junior High School classroom library in Eliot, Maine (1987) because the "book does not paint a responsible role of parents"; its "cast of sex-minded teenagers is not typical of high schoolers today"; and the "pornographic sexual exploits (in the book) are unsuitable for junior high school role models." West Hernando,
Fla. Middle School principal (1988) recommended that Blume's novel be removed from school library shelves because it is "inappropriate." Placed on reserve at the Herrin, III. Junior High School library (1992) and can be checked out only with a parent's written permission because the novel is "sexually provocative reading." Removed from the Frost Junior High School library in Schaumburg, III. (1993) because "it's basically a sexual 'how-to-do' book for junior high students. It glamorizes [sex] and puts ideas in their heads." Placed on the "parental permission shelf" at the Rib Lake, Wis. high school libraries (1993) after Superintendent Ray Parks filed a "request for reconsideration" because he found the book "sexually explicit." It was subsequently confiscated by the high school principal. A federal jury in Madison, Wis. awarded $394,560 to a former Rib Lake High School guidance counselor after finding that his contract was not renewed in retaliation for speaking out against the district's material selection policy. The counselor criticized the decision of the Rib Lake High School principal to restrict student access to the novel. Removed from Mediapolis, Iowa School District libraries (1994) because it "does not promote abstinence and monogamous relationships [and] lacks any aesthetic, literary, or social value." Returned to the shelves a month later but accessible only to high school students. Removed from the Fort Clarke Middle School library in Gainesville, Fla. (1995) after a science teacher objected to its sexually explicit content and a reference to marijuana. Restricted to a reserve section of the Delta High School Library in Muncie, Ind. (1995). Parents must give their permission in writing before their children can check out the book. Challenged at the Wilton, Iowa School District for junior and senior high school students (1996) because of its sexual content. Banned from middle school libraries in the Elgin, III. School District U46 (1997) because of sex scenes. The decision was upheld in June 1999 after an hour of emotional school board discussion. After a four-year absence, the book was returned (2002) to the shelves of the district's middle school libraries. Challenged in the Fayetteville, Ark. Middle and Junior High School libraries (2005). The complainant also submitted a list of more than fifty books, citing the books as too sexually explicit and promoting homosexuality.