Gay penguins book is back at top of complaints list
A children’s book about two gay penguins has returned to the top spot in a list of America’s most controversial books.
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell has been on the American Library Association’s (ALA) list of the most complained about books for five years.
It topped the list in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
The book, written by a gay couple, is based of the true story of penguins Roy and Silo, who formed a couple in New York’s Central Park Zoo.
They attempted to hatch a rock, which was replaced by a rejected egg from a mixed gender couple by zookeepers.
They then adopted the baby penguin Tango as their own. The couple eventually split when Silo became interested in a female penguin.
The book has been accused of promoting homosexuality and being ‘anti-family’ as well as unsuitable for its age group.
This year’s list includes Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie; The Hunger Game” by Suzanne Collins; and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
Off the list this year are such classics as Alice Walker’s The Color Purple; To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.
Barbara Jones, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said: “While we firmly support the right of every reader to choose or reject a book for themselves or their families, those objecting to a particular book should not be given the power to restrict other readers’ right to access and read that book.”
