A Boynton Beach man has challenged three books he says contain sexual content that is unsuitable for students at Park Vista High School.
He called the works hypocritical because two of the books were written by authors who have either publicly supported Florida's legislation allowing challenges to books in schools or who have supported Republican candidates in favor of the law.
The books in question include "The O'Reilly Factor for Kids: A Survival Guide for America's Families" by Bill O'Reilly, "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand and "The Taking" by Dean Koontz.
Kenneth Derrick, who is not a parent of a child at Park Vista, is not pushing for the books to be removed from the library. Instead, he suggests the school district affix a label to the books that calls out authors who support book challenges but include sexual content in their own novels.
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His challenges to the three books have been denied by Park Vista's school materials review committee, its principal and Superintendent Mike Burke. The denials cited the committee's finding that the books are age-appropriate and that the school district does not typically add warning labels to books.
Palm Beach County's school board will consider the challenges at Wednesday's school board meeting.
Formal book challenges in Palm Beach County are rare
Florida law allows parents of students in the school system and county residents to challenge books they believe are pornographic or are not age-appropriate for the students who can access them.
Individual schools manage their library collections, according to school board policy. Few books have been challenged in Palm Beach County, and even fewer have been removed from school libraries or classrooms for any amount of time.
Last year, a parent unsuccessfully challenged the Bible at Olympic Heights High, citing the text's "misogyny, violence, sexual conduct, rape, incest, animal cruelty, abuse, anti-semitism, anti-science and indoctrination."
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that narrowed the scope of the law to limit challenges by residents who are not parents of students. Derrick filed his challenges to the books in March before that law went into effect.
What drove Boynton Beach man to challenge three books at Park Vista High?
Of "The O'Reilly Factor: A Survival Guide for America's Families," Derrick points to descriptions of sexual conduct in the book's chapter titled "Sex" as the reason for his challenge.
"For example, on pg. 72: 'And according to many experts and studies, quite a few of you like to pretend that you're in the Clinton White House. I mean, you casually practice oral sex, even in your early teens,'" Derrick wrote in his challenge, along with other examples from the books' chapter.
He suggests a label be placed on the book that highlights the book's author supported Florida's laws "restricting the content of books in school classrooms and libraries, but he became angry when his books were removed for inappropriate content."
O'Reilly, a conservative television commentator and former Fox News host, reportedly became "furious" in January after two of his books were removed by Escambia County's school district. He previously supported the book challenge laws in Florida, which he said were necessary to "protect children" from a far-left agenda.
Derrick also has challenged "The Fountainhead" for a description of what appears to be a sexual assault. The book was written by Alice O'Connor, using the pen name Ayn Rand, and published in 1943. Derrick says in his challenge that "many individuals who support Florida laws restricting the content of books in school classrooms and libraries often recommend that young people read this book."
Public schools in Orange County removed the book from libraries last year, according to reporting by The Orlando Sentinel.
Finally, Derrick has challenged "The Taking" for descriptions of violent sexual conduct, including pornography and sexual assault committed by gangs. The novel was written by self-labeled conservative and Catholic horror novelist Dean Koontz and published in 2004.
Derrick argues that Koontz has "donated money to politicians who support laws restricting the content of books in school classrooms and libraries."
Campaign finance records show that Koontz has donated to several Republican candidates for Congress in California over the past four years. None of those candidates appears to be connected to Florida.
Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today!
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