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Foxfire

Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Publication date: 1993
Genre: Fiction 

About the Work


Challenges in Canada

1996—A parent demanded the removal of this novel from the optional reading list for senior English students at a Milton (ON) high school. His 16-page flyer, distributed throughout the community, included excerpts from the book and the text of an eight-page letter to the superintendent of educational services for the Halton Board of Education.

Objection—The book, which deals with the subject of teenaged gangs, was said to contain obscene and profane language as well as graphic scenes of sex and violence.

Update—In April 1997, the school board agreed that Foxfire should be retained as a curriculum option for Milton and other high schools but designated the book for small group instruction or independent study. Nothing further was heard from Parents Against Corrupt Teachers (PACT), the organization that sparked the controversy.


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Book that deals with the subject of teenage gangs.