9/11 Book Draws Debate At Hillsborough School Board Meeting

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A book called Ground Zero drew debate among the Hillsborough Board of Education(BOE) over whether the novel handled the subject of 9/11 appropriately for that age group.

A motion to approve the book by Alan Gratz as an optional book club title for students in grades 5 and 6 was presented at the Oct. 29 BOE meeting.

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According to the recommendation presented to the board, Ground Zero is a work of fiction and "There is no objectionable language but it does recount (fictionally) experiences from the s-n attacks on the World Trade Center and attacks in Pakistan."

The adoption form says the book was recommended by the district's curriculum writing team for the bookroom as a choice during book clubs in both grades.

The curriculum explanation says the book would become one of the options teachers can use in book clubs in both grades 5 and 6.

Board President Joel Davis said, "The bottom line is I'm a no on this book. Not because it isn't interesting or isn't because it's not well done."

He added, "My concern with the book is that it does, I believe, descend into being disrespectful in some ways.

Davis also said he was concerned about "the overall environment" and whether "this is the only point of view being represented uh to our students. I'd be concerned about that because it's perhaps a little distortion."

Board member Elaine Jackson also opposed the item.

"My concern is that there is some false information in it that a student would read without correction," said Jackson. "I also I understand um the structure of the book is what from a English perspective is what's desired but I think the unfortunate part here is that the subject matter is not something that should be taken lightly."

Board member Jane Staats supported the book, saying, "I really think that we do need to have a book like this."

"I like how there are two different points of view. It is fiction," said Staats.

She also said the book was "meant for our students in their literacy classes."

"I think the different points of view, not even opposite points of - but they're different points of view - enriches it and as and from a literary point of view, that's what this is meant for," said Staats. " It's meant for our students in their literacy classes. That's where there's going to be real value as far as learning and reading and discussing different points of view. And I really think it's important that we expose our students to literature like this."

Applause from the audience followed Staats statement.

Student representative Isabella Auzinger said, "I totally see your perspective in that it might be a very heavy topic for middle school students. However, in my personal opinion, being in the middle school level and reading similar works that had very heavy topics, I felt like they really opened my eyes to these issues."

" And I think the further away in time we get away from 9/11, the more distant it feels. And I think reading a work like this could make it feel more vivid. And I feel like me personally, I'm very connected with literature and I feel like it helps me see the world in a different way," said Auzinger.

Applause from the audience also followed Auzinger's comments.

The motion passed with a six-to-three vote, approving the book for optional classroom use in book clubs.

Paul Marini, Cassandra Kragh, Allison Laning-Beder, Cynthia Nurse, Jane Staats, and Jean Trujillo voted in favor of the motion.

Marc Ehrenkrantz, Jackson, and Davis voted against the motion.

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