School District Rescinds Ban on Invisible Man

A North Carolina school board has rescinded its ban on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, returning it to local high school libraries. The Randolph County Board of Education voted 6-1 this week to reverse the ban it issued 10 days ago. The board voted 5-2 on Sept. 16 to pull the widely acclaimed book from the library shelves. The initial decision came in reaction to a complaint from the mother of a Randleman High School student who said the book was "too much for teenagers." The mother specifically objected to the book's language and sexual content.

Invisible Man is a first-person narrative by a black man who considers himself socially invisible. Originally published in 1952, it won the US National Book Award for Fiction in 1953. The Courier-Tribune of Asheboro has more details. (The book series that drew the most complaints nationwide in 2012? The Adventures of Captain Underpants, about a pair of fourth-grade jokesters, reports CNN.)