DEARBORN (WWJ) - Several books have been removed from libraries in a Metro Detroit school district after parents said they contained inappropriate material for students.
The Dearborn Public School district said seven books were temporarily pulled from shelves and removed from the Dearborn Public Library eBook collection following the complaints, officials said.
Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones" is on the list as is four other books that follow LGBTQ+ themes.
Parents of students say the books contain offensive content, including promoting rape culture and abuse.
According to authorities, the books will be reviewed before they are officially banned, but there is no timeframe for how long the process will take.
Parents on both sides of the issue shared their thoughts in a public comment section of Monday's school board meeting. Two books in particular were referenced, including "This Book is Gay" by Juno Dawson and "Flamer" by Mike Curato.
The books feature gay main characters and have sexually explicit scene depicted in them, commenters said.
"They were brought to our attention by a parent but they were never actually been taken out by a student that we could see," Board of Education member Mary Petlichkoff said of the books.
Dearborn Resident Mary Lane spoke at Monday's meeting and reminded the board that it is their "duty" to keep all information readily available.
"No one has a right to sensor for someone else except a parent for their child. as public official, it's your duty to try to maintain as wide as access to information as possible," she said.
Petlichkoff agreed, stating the jobs of schools and educators is to prepare students for the adult world, "where they will be faced with a variety of concepts that may not necessarily reflect their own perspectives or values. but that we cannot eliminate their having to deal with those kinds of consequences..."
Stephanie Butler said via WXYZ that books such as "Flamer" go beyond being a romance novel as it writes on sexually explicit acts between young boys and graphic descriptions.
"If these were just LGBT romance novels that is completely appropriate," Butler said. "Where I draw the line is teaching them how to actually do the act."
The school board said the seven books will be inaccessible to students pending their official review.