A public school board voted 7-0 to ban an award-winning Sherman Alexie book from the curriculum and voted 7-2 to keep the book off the library shelves.

Critics said the "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" was filled with profanity and was too graphic for young readers. "We can take the book and wrap it in those 20 awards everyone else said it won and it still is wrong," board member Ken Spurgeon said a meeting, The Springfield News-Leader reported.

Supporters said the book -- which is partly based on Alexie's experiences at a public school off the reservation -- provides hope. "It's not about giving up. It's about not letting people tell you you're not worth it," Dakota Freeze said at the meeting, the paper reported.

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Stockton book ban upheld 7-0 in packed public forum (The Springfield News-Leader 9/9)