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Mar. 28--When Adam Rapp wrote "The Buffalo Tree" in 1997, he did not think the book would be published. And he certainly didn't think it would become the center of a controversy over censorship. But Monday night, at a forum on school censorship at Albright College, Rapp found himself defending the novel, which is based on his time in an Illinois detention center. The book was removed from classes at Muhlenberg High School last year after complaints about its language and sexual content. It later was reinstated after months of debate over community values and what is appropriate literature for students. "I was stunned to know that a book I published in 1997 would have an effect on a community," Rapp said.
Dr. Joseph S. Yarworth, who was superintendent of Muhlenberg during the book debate, and members of the Albright master's education program, organized the forum to discuss the issues raised during the community debate.
Yarworth now is a professor of education at Albright.
A panel composed of Muhlenberg School Board member Otto W. Voit III; district English teacher Michael Anthony; Albright professor Alberto Cacicedo; and Reading Eagle assignment editor and columnist John D. Forester Jr. discussed the months-long debate over Muhlenberg's removal of "The Buffalo Tree."
More than 125 teachers, parents and students attended the forum.
Yarworth said the controversy spoke to the larger issue of community values.
"One of the problems with community values is that it is self-defined," he said.
Rapp, 37, grew up in Chicago, and at age 10 was sent to a juvenile detention center for stealing.
Rapp wrote about his experiences more than a decade later.
Rapp said he knew he was writing about difficult subjects, and using strong language, but he wanted to be true to his experiences.
"This was the stuff that was keeping me up at night," he said.
When he was writing the book, Rapp said he never concerned himself with worrying if the content was appropriate for teenagers. That job is best left up to educators, he said.
Anthony, who taught "The Buffalo Tree" in several courses, said he thought it could teach good lessons to teens.
He said the decision to remove the book from the district was influenced by a vocal minority of community members.
"It was a coming out party for censorship, where carefully chosen passages were read out of context," Anthony said.
"The Buffalo Tree" is a good book to introduce novels to teens who are not inclined to read on their own, Anthony said.
He said he understood why parents wanted to shield their children from difficult topics and situations. But coarse language and questionable morals permeate American culture, he said.
"We really can't protect them, but we should prepare them," Anthony said. "What we can do is provide children the tools to deal with these situations."
Voit, who voted to remove the book from the curriculum, said he now could see the usefulness of the book for some students.
Voit said he now supports the book in the classroom. But, he said, the job of school board members is to look at community values to determine what is appropriate for teaching in school.
"If we can talk to each other like this every day, then we can have a better community," Voit said.
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