Fat Kid Rules the World challenged.

Well, this just makes me want to read the book again:

"I want it pulled," Lukes said. "It's vulgar, and it's a total contradiction. The kids can't go around and talk like this ... What kind of message does it send?"

This argument gets used over and over again, and it still doesn't make any sense to me.  If you use it on Fat Kid Rules the World, to be fair, wouldn't you have to use it with consistency?  Like, you don't want to encourage kids to run around raping each other silly -- but you don't see books about the Greek myths getting challenged, do you?  Or, for that matter (to use my own overly-used example), Shakespeare, who is as vulgar as they come?  Just because you have to work at it to understand the vulgarity doesn't mean it isn't there.

I wandered around the school website for a while, but couldn't find the full recommended reading list -- but then again, the list doesn't really matter all that much:  according to the article, kids are required to read one book over the summer (I know, right? -- Only one!), and it doesn't even have to be from the list.  So I don't really see what the problem is.  The student is not being required to read the book.  Parent doesn't like it... so pick another book.  Why freak out?

[Later:]  To entertain myself, I checked out the one-star ratings of FKRtW at Amazon -- there's one from 2004 that complains about 'fowl' language.  Awesome.