Megan Udinski, FISM News
Conservative book publisher, Heroes of Liberty, is warning parents of the woke ideology infiltrating homes through the Scholastic Book company.
Heroes of Liberty has launched a campaign to get the once “wholesome” book publisher Scholastic Books out of schools and to bring awareness to unsuspecting parents that might be allowing woke ideology into their children’s reading. They have dubbed Scholastic Books a “Woketopus,” describing the publishers as a billion-dollar company pushing books on gender fluidity, LGBTQ issues, critical race theory, and more.
Editor of Heroes of Liberty, Bethany Mandel is speaking out to alert parents of the propaganda. She explains, “All over America, parents are waking up to the danger that a woke education system is having on their kids’ mental health, not to mention their futures. What’s happening in education isn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem is our culture, or to be more precise, our children’s bookshelves.”
No Left Turn Education is an organization partnering with Heroes of Liberty to put education back into the parents’ hands by encouraging them to get involved with what is and is not allowed in school curriculum. The founder of the organization, Elana Fishbein, commented on the shift from a seemingly neutral publishing company to a clearly politicized one. Scholastic has a monopoly by being active in 90% of schools and having the opportunity to push books with a particular ideology. She said, “If you go to school libraries or public libraries, your head spins around when you see the books that they’re using on racial issues, sexualizing kids, police hate. All those woke books, what I call poison, the amount makes you sick.”
In a video produced by Mandel, she explains how one book called “George” is an example of the woke ideology and sexually explicit language permeating children’s libraries without parents understanding.
Other books she warns parents about include the pro-transgender book “Magical Boy,” “The Girl From The Sea” by Molly Knox Ostertag, which features a lesbian relationship, “Rick” by Alex Gino, about LGBTQ identities, and “This Book Is Anti-Racist” by Tiffany Jewell, which pushes race activism.
While these not-so-subtle titles hint at the content within the books, there are more books that are less obvious about their liberal agenda. One such title is “When You Trap a Tiger” by Tae Keller, the 2021 Newbery Medal winner. Due to its award, parents trust the quality of the story without realizing that the subplot emphasizes the main character’s bisexual sister, potentially leading to concepts they are not ready to introduce to their children.
In response to the claims made by Heroes of Liberty, Scholastic’s vice president, Anne Sparkman replied, “The only agenda at Scholastic is to engage kids in a love of reading, in partnership with schools and families….Our broad selection represents the many, many kids we serve from all backgrounds because every child should have access to stories that relate, inspire and inform. We will always respect the role of parents and teachers in the book selection process and in choosing the books that they feel are best for their children and students, while keeping an array of titles accessible to all children.”
You can learn more about this issue at Bethany Mandel’s YouTube video below: