New Zealand bans award winning teen novel

New Zealand has banned an award-winning teen novel that includes sex and bullying, making it the first book to be removed from shelves in over two decades,  with fines unto  NZ$10,000 for those ignoring the order. The Film and Literature Board of Review has placed an interim restriction order on ‘Into The River’ by Auckland author Ted Dawe, meaning it cannot be sold, lent or displayed by anyone, after a complaint from a Christian  conservative lobby group Family first.

The board has objected to the sex scenes, offensive language and references to drug-taking.  The Family first objected to sexually explicit content, drug abuse and the use of a slang term for female genitalia. The interim restriction took effect on 3rd September 2015,and will be reviewed to decide on a permanent classification within the next month.

It won the Book of the Year at the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. According to Dawe ‘I’ve had quite a few emails from people who share that sense of outrage. Do we live in a country where books get banned? I’ll get burnt next.’

The book tells the story of a Maori boy who wins a scholarship to an exclusive Auckland boarding school but struggles with racism and drugs.

The book was trying to reach out to male teenagers and young people who would not normally read.

Joanna Mathew, executive director of the Library and information Association of New Zealand, said the banning of Into the River  was “concerning ”  for freedom of speech in New Zealand. She further said, “I have read the book, and while there is content in there that is confronting it doesn’t warrant being banned. By burying a story that actually reflects real societal issues we fail to crate an environment where  we can effectively address them.” The book is still available for purchase on Amazon and Kindle

The last banned book was entitled How to Build a Bazooka.