I hate phonies

Back in high school, some of the less studious students would refer to Cliff Notes or Spark Notes so they could write book reports. Now, a mother in Maine is referring to Spark Notes so she can have a book banned from her child's school!

Andrea Minnon of Lebanon [Maine] said she had never heard of "The Catcher in the Rye" before she learned that it was on her 14-year-old son Spencer's freshman reading list. After researching the book online with her husband, she concluded that it espouses immoral ideas that are inappropriate for freshman-age students. Now she wants it removed from the freshman curriculum....

Before filing her complaint, Minnon said, she and her husband researched the book using Sparknotes, an online study guide. She is now reading the book.

"That's where we got a lot of our information about (Holden Caulfield) being with a prostitute, his lying, his drinking, using girls for pleasure and his depression problems," she said.

Those mature themes, plus the profane language used by the main character, are inappropriate for 14-year-olds, she said.

Complaining about a common book you haven't even read -- classy!

(via Metafilter)