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Jodi Picoult Holocaust novel banned from school in 'inappropriate' books row

Picoult's novel The Storyteller was removed from a library in Florida

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NEW YORK - JUNE 24: Author Jodi Picoult attends the premiere of "My Sister's Keeper" at the AMC Lincoln Square theater on June 24, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

(JTA) – 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.

The Storyteller was removed from the library last month at a high school in Martin County, a southeast Florida district, after just one 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.

Book removal campaigns across the US have sought to purge schools and public libraries of what opponents have deemed inappropriate materials.

Notable instances of Holocaust-themed books getting ensnared in such efforts include Art Spiegelman’s Maus being removed from a Tennessee middle school curriculum; a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary being briefly removed from a Texas district; and several young-reader histories about the Holocaust also being briefly removed from a Missouri district.

Florida in particular has required additional scrutiny of the books that are available to schoolchildren. While Governor Ron DeSantis has denied that the state is banning books, activists say his “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” encourage 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 libraries entirely to comply with the law, while other Florida districts have removed picture books that trigger concern, including one about Shabbat which 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 first 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 Jewish granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who learns that her neighbor is a former Nazi officer 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, including depictions of sexual assault by Nazi guards.

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