New Rochelle Schools Censor "Girl, Interrupted" by Tearing Out Pages

Susanna Kaysen's harrowing memoir, Girl, Interrupted, may have inspired Angelina Jolie to deliver an Academy Award-Winning performance in the film adaptation staring Winona Ryder but all the book inspired in New Rochelle, NY was an act of book mutilation intended as censorship.

After an as-yet-to-be-identified person complained, school officials took books from students, ripped pages deemed "inappropriate" out of the book and then returned them to befuddled students.  School officials declined repeated requests for comment on the incident.

The National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression have condemned the school's actions.

The pages removed from the book (pages 64-70) contain a scene where the rebellious Lisa (played by Angela Jolie in the movie) encourages Susanna (played by Winona Ryder) to break up with her boyfriend and circumvent hospital rules against sexual intercourse by engaging in oral sex with a fellow patient at a Massachusetts mental hospital where the story is set.

Read the whole disgraceful story here.

UPDATE:

Facing Firestorm of Criticism, New Rochelle Schools Relent on "Girl, Interrupted" Censorship

Another victory for free speech, still no explanation of the district's book challenge policy or who exactly challenged the book.