Idaho junior high student Brady Kissel raised controversy when she decided to give away Sherman Alexie’s banned young adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as part of World Book Night. Parents, upon discovering the teenager’s plans, called the police. The police told local news channel KBOI that “someone concerned about teenagers picking up a copy of the book without having a parent’s permission” called them. Upon arriving at the scene, the police saw no reason to intervene, allowing the book giveaway to proceed.

When Alexie’s book was banned due to the sexual and purportedly anti-Christian content, local teens started a petition to have it reinstated. 350 signatures were collected. Upon hearing about the petition, Rediscovered Books, a local bookstore, started a campaign to raise enough money to buy a copy of the book for each signature on the petition. The resulting $3,400 in donations was enough to buy 350 books. All but twenty were handed out by Kissel. When Hachette, Alexie’s publisher, found out about the incident, they sent Rediscovered Books an additional 350 complimentary copies of The Absolutely True Diary. While the book is still banned from 10^th grade curriculum, a free copy is available to anyone who wants to stop by Rediscovered Books and pick one up.

Source: The Daily Dot