Great Books publishes a Junior Great Books series that is widely used in classrooms across the nation. Unfortunately, some of the selected readings denigrate Catholics.
The league made its concerns known by writing directly to the President of Great Books, Alice Letvin. Four selections from the series were cited as offensive: I Just Kept on Smiling, by Simon Burt; End of the Game by Julio Cortazar; The Secret Lion by Alberto Alvaro Rios; and Day of the Butterfly by Alice Munro.
While none of the four stories concentrates heavily on Catholicism, all of them contain either gratuitous remarks about Catholics, or make references to unseemly Catholic characters.
The league is asking that those empowered to make selections about the series give due regard to our reservations and reevaluate their choices the next time.
