New YA Literature

"The Whole Lesbian Sex Book" is not appropriate YA literature? Who could possibly tell from the title and the cover? Apparently not Earl Adams of Bentonville, Arkansas, who is suing the city of Bentonville for $20,000 because his sons, 14 and 16, checked out the book when they found it in the "military academies" section of the city's public library. Adams claims that his sons "were greatly disturbed by viewing this material and this matter has caused [them] many sleepless nights."

I won't even touch the obvious jokes and assumptions about the causes of their "sleepless nights," but let's focus on the lawsuit, shall we? I mean, I'm certainly against censorship and think the book should remain in the library. If Adams were "just" objecting to the book because he doesn't think it's appropriate for the library, that's one thing. But trying to get $20,000 because his two sons checked out this book? Please. It's not like they were forced to read this or that they could possibly not have known what the book was about before they checked it out. It's pretty obvious from the title alone. Unless Adams is just really, really gullible and found the book and believed some far-fetched desperate attempt on his sons' part to deflect guilt. "We had no idea the book was about lesbian sex [even though the title says it clearly]! We found it when we were searching for books about military academies. You wouldn't believe the trauma we've suffered since reading it. And continuing to read it. Chapter after chapter. Even when we realized what it was about."