Weekly Kibbitz
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Jodi Picoult Holocaust Novel Removed as Florida School
District Purges Libraries to Comply With State Law
A Holocaust-themed novel by bestselling author Jodi
Picoult was among dozens of books removed from a
South Florida school district library’s circulation last
month, in the latest example of books with Jewish themes
getting swept up amid a larger conservative-led eff ort to
police potentially inappropriate material in classrooms.

“The Storyteller” was removed from the library last
month at a high school in Martin County, bowing to a
parental complaint. According to a list of removed books
published by local media, the novel was among several
others by Picoult that were taken off the shelves. Other
removed books by Jewish authors include the coming-of-
age novel “Forever,” by Judy Blume, and “Extremely Loud
and Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer, which is
about a boy whose father was killed on 9/11.

Nationwide, book removal campaigns have sought to
purge schools and public libraries of what opponents have
deemed “critical race theory,” “pornography” and “gender
ideology.” Notable instances of Holocaust-themed books
getting ensnared in such eff orts include Art Spiegelman’s
“Maus” being removed from a Tennessee middle school
curriculum; a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s
diary being briefl y removed from a Texas district; and
several young-reader histories about the Holocaust also
being briefl y removed from a Missouri district.

Florida in particular has required additional scrutiny
of the books that are available to schoolchildren. While
Gov. Ron DeSantis has denied that the state is banning
books, activists say his “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” encourages
parents and educators to take license in purging schools
of material that could carry a hint of impropriety. Some
districts have covered or removed their classroom librar-
ies entirely to comply with the law, while other Florida
districts have removed picture books that trigger concern,
including one about Shabbat that was part of a diversity
package and another about a Jewish family with two dads.

Blume’s and Foer’s books have been frequent targets
of other school bans and removals, as have many other
books on Martin County’s list — including Toni Morrison’s
“Beloved” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s
Tale.” But Picoult, who grew up in a secular Jewish
household, told the Washington Post that this was the
fi rst time, to her knowledge, that “The Storyteller” has
been targeted. She said the removal was “shocking, as it
is about the Holocaust.”
First published in 2013, “The Storyteller” follows the
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Jewish granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who learns
that her neighbor is a former Nazi offi cer who served in
concentration camps. Her neighbor also asks her to help
him commit suicide.

The Post reported that most of the Florida district’s book
complaints originated from one parent: the head of the
local chapter of the conservative group Moms For Liberty.

“At this point, we believe we have challenged the most
obscene and age inappropriate books,” the parent, Julie
Marshall, told the Post.

Marshall did not immediately respond to a Jewish
Telegraphic Agency request for comment on why she
sought to remove “The Storyteller,” but she previously told
the school board that the vast majority of her challenges
were based on what she deemed sexually explicit content.

The book contains several sexually graphic scenes, includ-
ing depictions of sexual assault by Nazi guards.

— Andrew Lapin | JTA
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Entree (Choice of One)
Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer
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