Hamilton, NJ school libraries remove favorite books but keep this sexual trash? (Opinion)

At the last Hamilton Township school board meeting, the board voted to decommission 700 books for different reasons. Some of them are Jackie Robinson, Curious George, Dr. Seuss, Mother Theresa, Horton Hears a Who and World Atlas, to name a few.

If you read the list of books, as I did, you would probably be very sad to see many children’s classics being removed from the libraries.

There are various reasons for the decommissioning. According to the superintendent, some of them have been water damaged, some of them are simply never taken out by kids and don’t seem to interest them and some of the titles, though they can’t say specifically, will be replaced title for title.

But for example, in the case of a book called "There’s a Boy in the Girls Bathroom" by Louis Sachar, or "Abraham Lincoln" by Ingri D’Aulaire or "Mother Theresa, Caring For All Gods Children" by Betsy Lee, all slated for decommissioning, there’s nothing to ensure that wokeness and community pressure to adhere to its new modern standards is not part of the selection.

Will these books be replaced title for title?

This is bothersome to many in the community. Especially since three problematic books have been introduced into the district's libraries.

These books are so lewd that the New York Post did an article on them on March 9 and had to block most of the pornographic pictures. Yet, Hamilton schools seem reluctant to decommission these books quite as easily despite outcry from many parents.

These books are in the libraries right now and although there are much more graphic passages than these, depicting pornographic concepts involving children, plenty of obscene words and gestures and suggestions for kids to Google more of the same, even I, never a shrinking violet, feel uncomfortable with including them here.

But they’re available for you to do research on. In case you don’t believe me here’s a quick rundown.

Here are some of the concepts and quotes from the three books that parents believe are inappropriate for children.

"Flamer" by Michael Curato

"The story is of a serious struggle within a young man’s mind over his confused sexuality, broken relationship with his father, thoughts of suicide and hellfire," a groups of parents said in a written complaint.

The complaint offered these examples:

"Pg 23 - Sexual innuendo displayed with hot dog (wiener)and young man’s buttocks as a bun"

"Pg 80- Depiction of boy on his knees at eye level of another boy’s private parts in the shower while realizing he is getting an erection"

"Pg 99-100- Relating parts of an arrow to parts of a penis. This will be a symbol used throughout book."

"Pg 132- Depiction of boy’s shock watching his father’s porn videos, sexual response to porn 'feels good.'"

"Pg 266- Pedophile discussion by grown men"

"A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities," By Mady G and J.R. Zuckerberg

“A good way to start experimenting changing gender is at Halloween or a fancy dress party," the parents' complaint quotes from page 38. “A good way to start experimenting changing gender is at Halloween or a fancy dress party.”

“The feeling of a bra strap around my ribs or my girly underwear riding up would make me feel like I’m wearing sandpaper," the complaint quotes from page 34. "Now that I’ve switched to undergarments that I’m more happy seeing myself in, I’ve realized that my awareness of those regions of my body were what was causing my discomfort.”

They say page 50 offers an "introduction of prothesis to mimic opposite gender" while page 34 "encourages mixing natural gender looks such as “Hard Femme, Soft Butch, Soft Masc.”

"Beyond Magenta" by Susan Kuklin

Parents say this work "presents several underage children struggling with the mental and emotional rejection of their own gender" and "includes inappropriate to illegal material that should not be introduced to minor children."

"When Jesse got his period, he was confused," the quote from page 3.

“I am saving up for a vagina," on page 33.

The parents describe page 80: "At age 6 boy was sexually mature, kissed other guys, performed oral sex on them."

They say that on page 124, a "girl takes off shirt to play shirts and skins."

And it goes on and on. I only had the space to include a couple of quotes and concepts, but I think you get the idea.

You can hear some of the books being decommissioned, and some of the stronger passages from these books in the public opinion segment of a school board meeting video.

If you have a strong opinion about this, there’s another school board meeting where you are encouraged to make your thoughts known.

On Wednesday evening, March 15 at the Reynolds Middle School in Hamilton Township. The meeting officially starts at 6 p.m. with public comment closer to 7. Parents/citizens anyone who find this material offensive is encouraged to attend.

The public is welcome to let the school board know what they think. If you find the books and the concepts within them to be inappropriate for kids of any age you can attend this meeting and demand that they decommission these books as quickly as they did "Curious George" and "The Little Prince."

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

You can now listen to Dennis & Judi — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite best friends anytime, anywhere and any day of the week. Download the Dennis & Judi show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.