Nothing brings back the nostalgic feeling of Nazi Germany quite like a good old fashioned book burning, and thanks to a very vocal group in Wisconsin, a "controversial" young adult novel may be headed toward a bonfire. The book in question is Baby Be-Bop, which tells the tale of a teenager struggling with his homosexuality (and is beaten up by a homophobic gang). The Christian Civil Liberties Union (what--you thought religion wouldn't be involved?), has launched a legal claim demanding the right to publicly burn a copy of the book, which they deem to be "explicitly vulgar and anti-Christian".

The hissyfit began when the group initially pushed to remove Baby Be-Bop from the public library, along with a slew of other books with gay and lesbian themes. They collected 700 signatures demanding the books' removal; but another group that remembered a tiny little American right known as free speech (the West Bend Parents For Free Speech) collected 1,000 signatures insisting that the books remain. The library board sided with the free speech group, which then prompted the Christian Civil Liberties Union to file their current lawsuit. According to the American Library Association, the group is also seeking $120,000 in compensatory damages for being exposed to the novel in a display at West Bend Community Memorial Library. The lawsuit states that "the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library," and that it contains obscene language that could "put one's life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike." I can't tell you how many times I've encountered a book that put my life in jeopardy, but thankfully I was able to fend off that aggressive copy of Harry Potter and salvage what was left of my tattered emotional remains. One of the ironies (and I'm sure you've spotted many thus far) is that Baby Be-Bop has garnered immense critical praise as a book for young adults. A review in School Library Journal said that author Francesca Lia Block "makes the power of stories felt and here, more purposefully than ever before, she weaves a safety net of words for readers longing to feel at home with themselves. Gay teens in particular need this book." So back off, hysterical literature bashers--your kids are too busy smoking weed in your basement and downloading porn on the family computer to venture inside a library anyway.