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11-year-old Maine sixth-grader reads ‘pornographic’ LGBT book she found in school library during school board meeting, reveals librarian asked if she wanted a graphic version
- An 11-year-old boy read a passage describing a sex scene to a school board
- He told the meeting attendees that he obtained the book from the school library.
- The book, Nick and Charlie, is for ages 13 and up and is about a teenage relationship.
An 11-year-old boy made a statement at a Maine school board meeting after reading an explicit book he said he took from his high school library.
The excerpt he read chronicled a sexual interaction between a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man.
His father, Adam Zajac, also addressed the board during the Windham Raymond school district meeting on February 14, telling attendees that the librarian had also asked his son if he wanted a graphic novel version of the book.
Children’s access to certain books has become a divisive issue in the United States, with some parents encouraging children’s exposure to increasingly modern sexual concepts, and others complaining that they are being prematurely sexualized.
An 11-year-old boy read a sexually explicit excerpt from Nick and Charlie during a school board meeting in Maine. He told attendees that he got the book from his high school library.
His father, Adam Zajac, said during the meeting that the librarian had also asked his son if he wanted a graphic novel version of the book.
The book featured at the Maine gathering was Nick and Charlie, by 28-year-old British author Alice Oseman, which tells the story of a high school relationship.
His popular book, Heartstopper, which was recently made into a Netflix series, tells the story of the same couple who began their relationship at the ages of 15 and 16.
The boy read from the book: “We kissed for a long time, like it was two years ago and we’re on Nick’s couch trying to watch a movie.” Impossible.
I can’t think of anything else when he runs his hands so gently through my hair, down my back, down my hips.
“Suddenly, he pulls off my shirt and laughs when I can’t undo the buttons on his shirt. I ask him if he wants to and he says yes before I finish the sentence. He undoes my belt, reaching into his nightstand drawer at night looking for a condom, we’re kissing again, we’re turning around, you can obviously see where this is going.
The book is recommended by the publisher for students aged 13 and over.
After the boy pronounced the passage, his father climbed onto the lectern.
‘I am the father of that child. That’s my son, 11 years old, and he went to his library and found him at the front door of our library. This is the obscenity he’s finding, okay? said the boy’s father.
“I don’t care if he’s gay, straight, bisexual or whatever the terms are for all these things, it doesn’t have to be at our school. It doesn’t need to be in my 11-year-old son’s library,” she added.
“A lot of parents just don’t know what’s going on at school,” Zajac told The Maine Wire. “What I don’t understand is how we have books in the high school library that adults would be fired for having at work, or potentially prosecuted for sharing with children due to their pornographic content.”
This passage from the book is the scene that was set up during the meeting on February 14.
Nick and Charlie, by 28-year-old bestselling British author Alice Oseman, tells the story of a high school relationship.
Another book mentioned at the meeting was called Gender Queer and was checked out from the district high school library, Zajac said. It is rated for ages 18+.
Amazon’s online store lists Nick and Charlie as appropriate for readers 14 and older and for students in grades 9-12.
But publisher Harper Collins suggested on its website that the book is suitable for children “ages 13 and up.”
Oseman has published several teen books and graphic novels that explore LGBTQ+ issues.