Two authors recently gave away 50 copies of their book in appreciation for people speaking up about attempts to drop their best seller from an Arlington Heights-based school district’s required reading list.
Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, authors of “Freakonomics” announced the giveaway (for students, parents and teachers) over the Internet on May 26, a night after a heated District 214 board meeting. More than 350 people signed up to express their opinion on the issue and the board voted 6-1 to keep the nine books on the list.
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“They were so appreciative and impressed by the students and the parents and the teachers,” said Dee Dee De Bartlo, spokeswoman for the authors. “It wasn’t just about their book, but the issue of allowing their book to be read.”
Board member Leslie Pinney spearheaded the proposal to remove nine books from the reading list, including “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison, “Slaughterhouse-Five,” by Kurt Vonnegut, and “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien.
“Freakonomics” was targeted because part of the book argued that legalized abortion led to a lower crime rate, officials said.