‘It’s a Pleasure to Burn’… or Ban

Teaching in America in the era of legislated curriculum

“…while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning.” ~Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. Photo by Freddy Kearney on Unsplash

Today, I responded to a group text with, “I have The Bell Jar.”

Like an echo in my mind, I heard, “…you are the Book of Ecclesiastes.” It’s a line from a book that I may never be able to teach again. And also, a reminder that no matter what happens, I hold all of the books I’ve ever read, been taught, and taught to others.

The group text is the entire English department at the public high school where I work. We were scheduled to take the department staff photo for the yearbook, and spur-of-the-moment decided to each bring a banned book to read in the picture. In years past, we’ve taken similar photos, with our favorite book, or a book we teach.

We lined a stairwell, reading our books for a few minutes during planning — between meetings, IEP signings, duty posts, and covering classes for teachers who couldn’t find a substitute — and a high school student snapped a few pictures. One of the other English 1 teachers held Fahrenheit 451, a book that until this semester, we would have been just beginning to teach to our students. Another held Maus, the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel that was recently banned in the county next to ours. Another teacher holds The Catcher in the Rye — her own son is named Holden, a…