Material Reviewed

Title Looking for Alaska

Creator John Green

Pervasive Vulgarity and Educational Suitability

Record the total responses for each selection

Yes No

Is the material obscene, harmful, or pervasively vulgar? 0 5

Is the material educationally suitable 5 0

Notes:

Strikes a note for Young Adults – speaking in their language. Shows a challenging incident that
students may need to talk about. The oral sex scene was not written in a way to induce arousal,
rather it was more clinical in nature. Coming of age book, many experiences that students would
relate to. Educationally suitable because it brought forth class teachings without ‘teaching like a
textbook’.
Selection Criteria
Record the total for each rating category for each criteria in policy EFB (Local)

Criteria Meets Does Not Not

Meet Observed

Enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration students’ varied 5 0 0
interests, abilities, learning styles, and maturity levels;

Simulate growth in factual knowledge, enjoyment of reading, literary 5 0 0

appreciation, aesthetic values, and societal standards;

Develop a balanced collection presenting multiple viewpoints related to 5 0 0

controversial issues to foster critical thinking skills and encourage discussion
based on rational analysis;

Represent many ethnic, religious, and cultural groups and their contributions 4 0 1
to the national heritage and world community;

Provide a wide range of background information that will enable students to 4 0 1

make intelligent decisions in their daily lives;

Demonstrate literary merit, quality, value, and significance; 5 0 0

Have received state or national awards or are included on recommended 5 0 0
reading lists developed by library professionals and educators;

Cover topics, authors, series, genres, that fill gaps in the school library 0 0 5
collection;

Include accurate and authentic factual content from authoritative sources; 4 0 1

Have a high degree of potential user appeal and interest; 5 0 0
Offer a global perspective that promotes equity of access, including print and 0 0 5
nonprint materials such as electronic and multimedia, to meet the needs of
individual learners;

Are requested or recommended by students and teachers; 5 0 0

Mirror selections found in neighboring districts or libraries in the region; 3 0 2
Represent diverse viewpoints and cultures appropriate to each campus to 5 0 0
ensure the collection embodies the unique background of its student
population.
Committee Vote
Record the number of responses for each choice below.

The material should remain in the library at the elementary school level. N/A

The material should remain in the library at the middle school level. N/A

The material should remain in the library at the high school level. 5 votes-yes

The material should be removed from the library at all levels. 5 votes-no (HS only)

The material should remain in the library but require parental consent before it may 5 votes-no
be checked out.

Committee Recommendation and Reasoning

We noticed the complainant did not circle yes or no on reading the book in its entirety. In light of the
committee reading the entire book, we determined the book, taken as a whole, was not pervasively
vulgar and is educationally suitable at the high school level.