The Guilford County Board of Education will meet next Tuesday to consider a challenge to the book “Salvage the Bones" by Jesmyn Ward.
It's an optional read for an advanced placement-level English course at Northern Guilford High School.
The book is a fictional story of survival and how a Black Mississippi family prepared for Hurricane Katrina. On top of the storm, the characters experience poverty and sexual abuse. The novel won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2011.
Last school year, a parent filed a complaint against the book being used in class.
The issue first went to the Media Technology Advisory Council at the school, which voted to keep the book available. Students reading it for a class assignment had the option to choose a different book.
The complainant has since filed two appeals.
The first time, the District Review Committee upheld the council’s decision. The second appeal brings the issue to the Board of Education.
Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.