A Florida high school has removed Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation from its shelves after complaints from an activist group, WPTV reports.
The book, adapted from the diary of the young Holocaust victim by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky, was published in 2018 by Pantheon. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “A different format distills and renews Frank’s achievement.”
The book was removed from the library shelves of Vero Beach High School in Indian River County following complaints from a chapter of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing nonprofit organization that has previously attempted to ban books in schools. Other books targeted by the group have included George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Juno Dawson’s This Book Is Gay.
Jennifer Pippin, chair of the Indian River County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said, “We think true history absolutely needs to be taught, the Holocaust, the Anne Frank diary,” but said that her group objected to a scene in the book in which Anne suggests to a friend that they see each other shirtless.
This isn’t the first time that Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation has been pulled from schools. It was removed last year in a Texas school district but later reinstated.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
