Conflicted

One of the school districts 'round here has a flap and kerfluffle going on with required reading for the 9th grade. Book involved is GIRL, INTERRUPTED, of which a movie was made. I haven't read it, but the description and the controversy revolve around nasty language and nasty deeds and insanity. A subject dear to my writer's heart, as those of you who have read SUMMER COUNTRY would expect. Only the book in question, I believe, is not a total fabrication of a twisted fantasy writer's fiction.

As I understand it, speaking here from the security of sublime ignorance, the book is well written and the objectionable material is totally germane to the subject. My question would be, is the subject totally germane to the 9th grade? As in, should it be required reading?

I always feel a twinge when BOOKLIST or PUBLISHERS WEEKLY touts my writing for YA audiences. Some YAs, yes. Others? Ummmmm...

But maybe I'm just a fossil of an older and more repressed age.