Anh Do, a well-known comedian and novelist, was unaware that his popular book series had been banned by American schools until American students organised a campaign to get the ban reversed, according to his agent.
In November 2020, a school board in the US state of Pennsylvania declared that the popular WeirDo series “leaned toward brainwashing content.”
The Central York Board of School Directors found the 17 books, which are geared for younger children and are full of belly laughs, drawings, and tales from his experience as an immigrant attending school, to be “too activist in nature.”
However, according to his agent Andrew Laing, Australia’s “happiest immigrant” was unaware of the restriction until it was removed in January as a result of student protests calling for their restoration.
It’s incredible. Just amazing. Good for the young people who got it turned around,’ Mr. Laing added.
Do, who arrived in Australia at the age of three on a boat from Vietnam, has slowly gained notoriety for his artistic abilities as a painter (he has been in the finals for the Archibald Prize four times), comedian, novelist, and TV personality.
Do was in the centre of a nasty ideological dispute in the US educational system, but not even his publisher knew this.
The United States has one of the biggest lists of books that are prohibited in the industrialised world despite being the so-called “country of the free.”
Since the beginning of July 2021, school districts in the US have enacted more than 1,500 different book bans, according to free speech champion PEN America.
Among the 1,145 books that are prohibited are works by the Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, the essayist Carmen Maria Machado, and the distinguished Canadian author Margaret Atwood.
Despite being placed on a document intended as a teaching resource, Do’s series was one of 455 books that were prohibited from Central York libraries, schools, curricula, and optional reading lists.
The school board promised a curriculum committee would examine the list of prohibited materials after initial reaction from parents and kids.
Despite reviewing the list, the committee chose to maintain the prohibition.
When explaining the matter to furious parents in September 2021, Jane Johnson, president of the Central York Board of School Directors, argued that her board had not “banned” books and that it had just implemented a “freeze.”
She said, “It is our duty as a school board to represent the community and oversee the development of demanding, developmentally appropriate academic programmes for grades K through 12.”
We are trying to strike a balance between academic freedom that is valid and materials that could be too activist in character and lean more toward indoctrination than age-appropriate academic content, according to the statement.
We are dedicated to make this lengthy delay right, and we are aware of the fervour with which people feel about these concerns on both sides.