'Lovely Bones'

 

            Here's a book teachers and parents might want to avoid. It's called "Lovely Bones," and it's by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown, 2002, 288 pp.).

 

            It starts with the brutal abduction, rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl, and continues with a form of necromancy - communication with the dead - as the girl narrates what happens to her family and friends after her death. Her family basically disintegrates in grief, and there is content about sexuality and adultery, among other hot topics.

 

            The book had been approved for reading at the high school level by the California Department of Education, with a warning to educators about its content. It caused a controversy at Malibu High School when a student committee selected that book for a campuswide reading event for grades 9-12.

 

            The book is a debut novel, meaning that no other novels had been published by this author in the past. Parents and the public who complained in Malibu asked for classic literature with rich vocabulary and G-rated content which handled the big issues of life - including what it's like to be a crime victim, and what happens to people after they've been badly hurt - in a more uplifting style.