Blaine High School English course book list full of inappropriate titles, parent says

A book list for a ninth-grade Honors English class at Blaine High School is full of inappropriate titles, a concerned parent shared with Alpha News.

“Students were given a list of 11 books and required to choose one to read for a class book club discussion. My concern — and the concern of many other parents — is that a large number of the books on the list have been banned or repeatedly challenged in schools across the country, many due to explicit sexual content and other mature themes,” the parent told Alpha News.

The books students were required to choose from included one titled “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” where a sexual interaction between two girls is graphically depicted. This title has been banned from schools in multiple states due to its sexually-explicit nature.

“The Hate U Give” is another book on the list that has also been frequently removed from schools across the nation because of its vulgarity, sexual references, and the way the book portrays police brutality.

Other titles on the list included: “Concrete Rose,” “The Firekeeper’s Daughter,” “We Are Not From Here,” “Ready Player One,” “Words on Bathroom Walls,” “The Grace Year,” “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,” “Internment,” and “Between Shades of Gray.”

The parent said that several people contacted her after she shared her concerns about the book list on Facebook. “Yesterday we received her Book Club list and I’m literally sick to my stomach after looking into these books. Explicit sexual content, anti-Christian, LGBTQ, anti-police, feminist, and just EXTREMELY inappropriate. Students have to choose one book and a backup book from the list of 11 but we were only able to find one book on the list that we would be OK with her reading,” she wrote in the post.

She also connected with some individuals within the Anoka-Hennepin School District who worked with her and other concerned parents to add an additional two titles to the list of 11 that the parents deemed more appropriate. The 11 books on the original list will remain as part of the curriculum.

“I appreciate the district’s effort, but it doesn’t address the core problem: these sexually explicit books are carefully selected and presented to our kids as part of the required curriculum,” she said.

She said that some parents reached out to her saying they didn’t even think to review the list for age-appropriateness because they trusted the school.

“When I asked how these books were deemed appropriate for 9th graders, I was told it was based on the Minnesota Academic Standards for ELA (2020). But those standards only define the skills students must master — they include no age limits or content restrictions at all,” the parent said. “Decisions about mature material are left entirely to local school districts. This raises the question: where is age-appropriateness actually determined, if at all?”

The parent told Alpha News that the books on the list were purchased by the school in 2022 as part of the Into Literature HMH curriculum.

“The School District has a process to provide alternative curriculum material options upon the request of a parent or student,” the district told Alpha News in a statement. “There is also a formal complaint process that could be pursued regarding instructional materials if that is of interest to parents and guardians. This situation included optional instructional materials that were not subject to school board or district approval.”

Hayley Feland

Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.