Parents raised their eyebrows at the inclusion of rapper 50 Cent’s memoir, From Pieces to Weight on the Rochester School District’s summer reading list. School Board President Malik Evans confessed that “two or three” of the rapper’s songs are on his iPod. He and school officials explain that it is difficult to have a list with books on sensitive subject matters balanced with traditional titles. At the same time, the list contains 80 titles total so students always have the option of choosing one of the other 79 books.
Malik offered this comment: “I’m not exactly a big 50 Cent fan. He’s not the most positive person. Too many of our kids are emulating these rappers. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have it on there. But we don’t want to censor things. This is a democracy. We want the kids to be free to read.”
Readers, what titles did you remember having on your high school summer reading lists? This GalleyCat Correspondent recalled reading Paul Zindel’s The Pigman, John Gunther’s Death Be Not Proud, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. (Via the Democrat and Chronicle)