A Florida school has caused controversy after banning a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank's diary from its library shelves due to its "sexually explicit" content. According Local News Sources The book, entitled "Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation," was removed from Vero Beach High School's library in Indian River County after a group called Moms for Liberty complained about its content.
Moms for Liberty
Moms for Liberty, a nationwide conservative nonprofit that seeks to "stand up for parental rights," expressed concern over the book's illustrations, including Frank walking along sexually explicit nude statues, as well as a "graphic scene" where Frank asks a friend to expose themselves to one another.
"We think true history absolutely needs to be taught, the Holocaust, the Anne Frank diary," Jennifer Pippin
Jennifer Pippin, who chairs the Indian River County chapter of Moms For Liberty. "But the version that was in the library, it just had some sexually explicit material that was not appropriate for children."
Moms for Liberty has serious GOP connections
According to the Media Matters Moms for Liberty presents itself as a grassroots effort led by parents, but in reality the organization is well-connected with a variety of Republican politicians and entities.
Pippin said her group has around 250 titles they hope to challenge in the future, as the district's newly-formed "District Objection Committee" met for the first time this week. The committee, made up of nine people, will convene if there are district-wide challenges to books deemed inappropriate.
After the group complained, the school judged some of the book did not "contribute to the themes of Holocaust education." The original diary of Anne Frank remains in the Vero Beach High School library.
The graphic novel adaptation was created by Ari Folman, the son of Holocaust survivors, and illustrated by David Polonsky. While Frank's original diary does contain an entry where she asks a friend about showing each other their bodies and about her feelings when she sees statues in an art history book, the Moms for Liberty group believed the graphic novel was too explicit for young readers.
Anne Frank's diary is a historic document that chronicles the experiences of a young girl and her family as they hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. Frank died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945. The book has been translated into more than 60 languages and is widely considered a seminal work of literature.