If we had to select two favorite books out of the thousands we’ve read over the years, our votes would go to “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald — Mockingbird for its content and Gatsby for its style.

Both books encourage thoughts about issues that tend to make us feel uncomfortable. Racism. Courage in the face of peer pressure. Favors given to the wealthy and denied to the poor through the criminal justice system.

Has anyone ever read these books and not gained insight into our society or themselves? Is there anyone who would not like to be compared to Atticus Finch?

These questions became relevant over the holidays as we did research on banned books, among them “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Great Gatsby.”

The research was prompted by a recent meeting of the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo School Board, where two fathers of 8th grade students objected to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” a coming-of-age novel littered with content they did not think USD 327 should endorse by including it on a classroom reading list.

It’s commendable when parents take an interest in their children’s education. We would encourage more to do so. However, removing a book from a classroom based on a patron complaint is open to debate, especially when that book could be considered an opportunity for discussion on issues many teens struggle to understand or — in the most extreme cases — survive.

Such actions raise serious questions — Who decides what’s acceptable and where is the line?

Even Harry Potter has been targeted.

The Ellsworth situation reminds us of the many attempts to ban “Catcher in the Rye” from school libraries.

Detractors of J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel typically focus on the language and certain situations that happen, rather than the relatable feelings of the main character Holden Caufield. Holden was a teenager who was terrified of adulthood and wanted to do his best to preserve innocence, because he hates the “phoniness” that comes with growing up.

We doubt the USD 327 school board has heard the last of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. At least that is our hope. Books are meant to expand the world for their readers. That is a good thing, especially when it encourages a student to talk about their feelings or creates an opportunity for discussion that might not have happened otherwise.

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Speaking of the written word — several weeks ago we asked readers their opinions on the Independent-Reporter’s weekly Passages page. The question came from an anonymous reader who criticized the space we devote to Ellsworth County’s past.

Read the letter below from Ellsworth’s Garnell Hanson and you will get a good idea of the response we received from numerous subscribers. Enjoy Passages. It will continue as it has for the past 20 years.