Mouse (1980)

The graphic novel, in which Art Spiegelman deals with his parents' experiences during the Shoah and his mother's suicide, is considered a standard work in the USA to educate young people about the Holocaust.

In the form of a fable, Spiegelman depicts the Nazis as anthropomorphic cats and the Jews as mice.

Spiegelman was the first and only comic artist to receive the Pulitzer Prize.

In January 2022, the McMinn County, Tennessee school board decided to remove "mouse" from the eighth grade curriculum.

The justification given is "the unnecessary use of profanity and nudity" and the depiction of Spiegelman's mother's suicide.

A school board member called the content "vulgar and inappropriate," citing the words "bitch" and "god damn" as examples.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

Harper Lee's novel about the attorney Atticus Finch, who takes over the defense of the black man Tom Robinson accused of rape in the southern states of the 1930s, has long been one of the modern classics of American literature.

Because of Finch's portrayal as "White Savior" and the use of the N-word, the Burbank, California school board temporarily removed the novel along with several other books from their required reading list in September 2020.

When the committee couldn't reach a unanimous decision, it was decided to keep Who Annoyed the Nightingale in the libraries.

In principle, students have access to it, but they no longer have to deal with it in class.

In addition, the committee passed a resolution prohibiting the use of the N-word, regardless of the context.

In addition, the reading lists will be updated regularly to include works by Black and Indigenous authors.

In two other states, school boards removed Nightingale Killer from classrooms and libraries.

Heather Has Two Mommies (1989)

Lesléa Newman's children's book tells the story of Heather growing up with a lesbian couple, Jane and Kate.

The picture book explains various family models in a child-friendly way.

The Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania removed "Heather Has Two Mommies" from its elementary school libraries in December 2021 after halting all diversity and inclusion initiatives in August.

In an email, elementary schools were asked to "remove books with gender identity content" to review them for "sensitive topics such as profanity, violence, gender identity or sexual content".

A new policy also sets out how schools should deal with LGBTQ issues, such as changing names and pronouns.

For the elementary schools it says: "We do not discuss or use terms,