Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel Drama has been plagued by right-wing bans and challenges for almost 10 years. The latest challenge comes from one woman’s claim that Drama is to blame for her porn addiction—but that woman appears to work for a right-wing publisher competing with Drama publisher Scholastic Books.
On November 14, 20-year-old Lanah Burkhardt appeared at a board meeting of the Conroe Independent School District in Texas. Burkhardt claimed that the climactic scene in Drama, in which two male characters kiss in a school play, marked the beginning of a debilitating addiction to sex.
“My story started when I was 11,” Burkhardt said in her statement to the board, “and I was introduced to a single kiss in a Scholastic book …. This was the start of my porn addiction journey.” Burkhardt told the board that because of her experience, she believed that schools should remove all Scholastic books from their classrooms and libraries, and stop hosting Scholastic book fairs. The school board responded by banning Drama from students below 8th grade.
However, as journalists Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby discovered, Burkhardt has closer ties to the publishing industry than she let on.
Right-wing publisher Brave Books employs Lanah Burkhardt
Soon after Burkhardt’s testimony, Scholastic competitor SkyTree Book Fairs used her story to promote its own book fairs. Legum and Crosby found out that SkyTree has close ties with the right-wing publisher Brave Books, which in turn employs Burkhardt as a public relations coordinator. Brave Books also used Burkhardt’s testimony to promote its company.
When you put the pieces together, the situation becomes clear: regardless of the nature of Burkhardt’s situation, her story is part of a coordinated smear campaign against Scholastic books.
Right-wing campaigns against Scholastic—and Raina Telgemeier’s Drama—are nothing new
Brave Books’ attack on Scholastic Book Fairs is only the latest in a series of attempts to keep Scholastic books out of schools. In October, the right-wing group Moms for Liberty claimed that Scholastic violated Oklahoma state law, and said the publisher “appears largely focused on indoctrinating youth with radical viewpoints and sexual ideologies.” Before that, Scholastic itself came under fire for allowing schools that hosted its book fairs to opt out of offering diverse books.
Drama has suffered from continuous attacks by right-wing groups since 2013 for its positive portrayal of LGBTQIA+ characters. The graphic novel was included in the American Library Association’s list of the top 10 banned books of 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
(via Popular Information, featured image: Scholastic Books)
