Over 150 books have been removed from a large, Orlando-area Florida school district, including classics like The Scarlet Letter, Paradise Lost, and The Invisible Man, as school officials review materials for sexual content under the state’s restrictive book ban laws. According to a teacher keeping track of books that have been temporarily pulled for review by the Orange County government, titles by Shakespeare have been restricted to only 10th through 12 graders, while other popular works like The Fault in Our Stars, Into the Wild, and Catch-22 have been put on the restricted list because of sexual material. One teacher told The Orlando Sentinel she was “gobsmacked” when she saw Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was among the restricted works. She said she chooses works to study in class “to engage my students, to offer them literature that makes them think,” and that an accurate version of “the adolescent experience” in literature may contain some sexual themes, but still be valid for the classroom. “It’s just so frustrating and disheartening,” she said. The state’s book ban laws, passed under Republican governor Ron DeSantis, have caused empty shelves across Florida. “The books are sitting out on tables, they’re being boxed up and discarded,” Florida school librarian Keri Clark told The Independent earlier this year. “It’s just it’s a really sad sight. A lot of the kids keep looking through the window and it’s just it’s awful that I can’t let them come in and get books.” The Florida policyies are part of a nationwide surge of book bans. During the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, school officials tried to restrict at least 874 individual book titles, according to PEN America, a nearly 30 per cent spike from book challenges over the previous year. Overwhelmingly, the book ban attempts singled out works by and about people of colour and LGBT+ people, PEN found. At least 30 per cent of the impacted titles are books about race, racism, or feature characters of colour, and more than a quarter of all titles include LGBT+ characters or themes. Read More Biden condemns ‘hysterical’ threats to LGBT+ Americans as White House pushes back on book bans As conservatives target schools, LGBTQ+ kids and students of color feel less safe Florida mom who tried to ban Amanda Gorman’s book has ties to far-right groups

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Fuming Brentford boss Thomas Frank is expecting an apology from referees’ chief Howard Webb after seeing his side slip to a controversial Premier League defeat at Newcastle. The Bees went down 1-0 at St James’ Park on Saturday evening after Callum Wilson converted a second-half penalty awarded for a foul by keeper Mark Flekken on Anthony Gordon. Frank said: “It’s so rare that I complain about it because it’s human beings who make mistakes and we all make mistakes so that happens. But it’s extra frustrating when we do so many things right and lose because of that. “We just got told four weeks ago when Kevin Schade went through against Tottenham, where the keeper took him out, that no, he pulled out before, so it can’t be a penalty. Mark pulled out before, now a penalty. “It’s not the ref who has given it but the linesman, and he needs to be absolutely bang-on, 100 per cent sure if you want to decide an even game between two teams that gave each other a fantastic game, in fact. “That means that VAR have checked, but can’t do anything because it’s not a clear and obvious failure. I’m pretty sure that Howard Webb will come back to us and say ‘Sorry, we made a mistake’.” The penalty – one of two awarded by Craig Pawson, although the second was rescinded after he was advised to review it – came minutes after Wilson had seen a “goal” disallowed for a foul on Flekken. The England striker dispatched his 64th-minute spot-kick with supreme confidence to claim his 14th goal in his last 17 league appearances in the final game before Newcastle launch their Champions League campaign at AC Milan on Tuesday evening. Wilson put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension on Friday and Howe, who first signed him for Bournemouth in July 2014, has seen him grow during the intervening period. He said: “He’s gone from, when I first signed him, a Championship player to now an international, a Premier League player, a Champions League player. “But his character is still the same. He laughs, he jokes, he’s positive, he’s kind. He’s a really good team-mate, he’s a parent and he’s a really good father to his kids and he’s a husband, so a lot has changed in his life, but I think the general character around the person is exactly the same.” Howe, who confirmed that Brazilian midfielder Joelinton will miss the trip to San Siro with a recurrence of a knee injury which will keep him out for several weeks, was delighted to see his team end its three-game losing streak. He said: “It was a massive win for us, we needed it. I don’t think it was us at our free-flowing best, but there was a lot to like about the resilience, the defensive mindset, the work rate, the commitment. “It’s not always going to be an open, attractive game and today it probably wasn’t. Brentford made it very difficult for us, but we certainly defended very well and it was great to see us keep a clean sheet.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Job done – Warren Gatland focuses on bigger picture as Wales fail to impress Callum Wilson on the spot as Newcastle warm up for Europe with win Great Britain face winner-takes-all Davis Cup clash with France on Sunday

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