Little Brother
Artist: Cory Doctorow
Year: 2014
Date of Action: June 2014
Region: North America
Location: Pensacola, FL
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Government Secrecy, Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Science, Violence, Youth
Medium: Literature
Confronting Bodies: Booker T. Washington High School
Description of Artwork: Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. Marcus and his friends use technology to reclaim democracy from the Department of Homeland Security after a terrorist attack.
The Incident: High school principal Michael Roberts pulled the book from the high school summer reading list. The principal cited reviews that "emphasized the book's positive view of questioning authority, lauding 'hacker culture', and discussing sex and sexuality in passing."
He also cancelled the summer reading program altogether.
Results of Incident: Author Cory Doctorow took to his blog BoingBoing.net, bringing attention to his online community about the banning of his book. NCAC sent a letter to the school district in opposition to the censorship and canceling the summer reading program.
This case is ongoing, however, as of current the book is still banned.
Source:
• http://boingboing.net/2014/06/10/national-anti-censorship-orgs.html