We’re Banning Reference Books Now?

A North Carolina school district has banned the much-lauded Cassell Dictionary of Slang, claiming that the book, which includes some 87,000 entries, is somehow inappropriate for children. Not surprisingly, the impetus for the ban came from a Christian fundamentalist group, which is also seeking to ban many other books, including Maurice Sendak’s “Mickey In The Night Kitchen” and Robert Cormier’s “The Chocolate War.”