What are some novels that you believe (as a teacher, librarian, or parent) should not be taught or read in modern classrooms anymore?

[Answered by Carole Kyle on Quora.com]

As a teacher and a librarian, I abhor censorship. AS a teacher and librarian, I have seen the impact that books have on children. I've tried to explain to a child of color why Huck Finn is on the shelves of the library, even with the hateful language it contains. I will always have heavy on my heart his plaintive “That really hurt my feelings, reading that.”

You asked what books should not be taught, which is a separate question than that of what books should be available. Even narrowing the scope of the question doesn't make it easier to answer. At first I was going to fire off “Any book with hatred or ugliness at its core” but that is too facile. With the guidance of a caring, sensitive teacher, students can be helped to navigate that ugliness to find the redemption that lies at the end. They can learn from the mistakes of fictional characters, so that they can do better and be better in real life as they grow older. So I will qualify my original knee-jerk answer to say “Those books that glorify hatred or ugliness (of character).”

I can't suggest specific books, as that will change with each age group. This is an interesting question, and made me think.