AUTHOR: Marion Dane Bauer
ISBN: 0440466334
Plot Summary: 12-year old Joel promises not to go anywhere except the park. He and his daredevil friend, Tony, then go swimming in a dangerous river. Tony drowns, leaving Joel to face his friend's death and both sets of parents.
Complaints: Offensive language
Retained at the Orchard Hill Elementary School in Cedar Falls, Iowa (1989) after being challenged because the 1986 Newbery Honor Book contained "two swear words and one vulgarity." Challenged at the Alamo Heights, Tex. School District Elementary School (1992) because the book uses the words "hell," "damn," and "frigging." Challenged in fourth to sixth grade reading classes in Grove City, Pa. (1995) because it was "depressing." The criteria used to select the Newbery Award winning book along with a list of other books that focus on "divorce, death, suicide and defeat," was contested.
Solonor Says Ban It Because: It's damned depressing as frigging hell.
Links:
ERIC Bibliography-Marion Dane Bauer