Centralia High School sophomore Embry Anna Schluter told members of the Centralia School Board Thursday that while a few of the poems in the 2018 novel The Poet X “have mature themes,” the book is “not inappropriate.”

“If some parents don’t want their kids to read it, then that’s their choice, and I support that,” Schluter said. “However, there are also several other books that could have been chosen to read.”

Recently, the book has become a hot topic in the district, with some parents saying its themes and subject matter are inappropriate for students. In a recent publisher’s note commentary, Chronicle Owner and Publisher Chad Taylor wrote that the "inclusion of a book with explicit content not only distracts from essential learning but also places teachers in the uncomfortable position of discussing topics that many families believe should be addressed at home.”

In the note, which was written and published independently from The Chronicle’s newsroom, Taylor encouraged parents to attend Thursday’s meeting. Taylor’s note appears to largely mirror an Oct. 29 post from Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope, with several sections of the note reflecting the post nearly verbatim.

Swope, who was not in attendance Thursday, introduced his own proposal last fall for the Timberland Library System to adopt a book rating system, a proposal county commissioners do not have the authority to adopt or enforce.

In 2020, a couple in North Carolina sued their local school district over the book, saying the material violated their right to freedom of religion and arguing the book was an "assault” on Christianity.

A federal judge later declined to remove the material.

The Banned Book Project of Carnegie Mellon University identifies The Poet X as banned, and wrote in a description of the book that it “dives deep into the themes of religion and sexuality through the journal of fifteen-year-old Xiomara, a tenth grader struggling against her mother’s stringent Catholicism.”

“It has won a multitude of awards and been nominated for many others, including but certainly not limited to the National Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize, NY Times Editor’s Best Choice, and listed as one of NPR’s Best Books of the Year,” The Banned Book Project wrote.

Attendees of Thursday’s meeting were largely supportive of keeping the book as an optional reading material in the high school, though it wasn’t without its detractors.

Tricia Ziese, director of community outreach at Bethel Church, said she attended the meeting in her personal capacity. During her comments, Ziese said she found the book “very damaging, especially for our students, and youth, who have been affected by sexual abuse.”

“I can’t imagine anybody advocating that this book should be read in schools to 14-year-olds,” Ziese said.

Lauren Miller, who said she had children in the district, said she didn’t want their "curriculum to be determined by other parents' personal opinions.” In her remarks, Miller read the next two pages of the book.

“No one ever actually has sex or does drugs in the book,” Miller said. “It honestly has an extremely wholesome message about learning good communication and how to manage teenage emotions.”

The school board meeting can be watched in full at  https://www.facebook.com/centraliaschooldistrict/videos/2633666023487847.