Julianne Moore's children's book ‘Freckleface Strawberry' included on Trump's ban list

Yahoo

17-02-2025

Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore said Sunday it was 'a great shock' that her 2007 children's book 'Freckleface Strawberry' wound up among those banned by the Trump administration while under 'compliance review' at schools run by the U.S. Department of Defense.
In a post on Instagram, the stymied star wrote her book 'is a semi-autobiographical story about a 7-year-old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them when she realizes that she is different, 'just like everybody else.''
'It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, 'Freckleface Strawberry,' has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense,' she wrote, adding: 'It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community.'
Moore's book is among dozens placed off-limits for at least a week in school libraries operated by the DOD as the new administration aims to roll back protections for transgender people and terminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government.
Parents got a DOD memo on Feb. 10 saying it was scrutinizing library books 'potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics,' reported The Guardian, which obtained a copy. That applied to a 'small number of items' that were being kept for 'further review,' the memo stated.
As many as 67,000 children attending the 160 Pentagon-operated schools in seven U.S. states and 11 countries will be affected.
The nonprofit literature and writing advocacy group Pen America flagged the 'Freckleface Strawberry' inclusion, along with 'Becoming Nicole' — and 'No Truth Without Ruth' about late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
'The removal of these titles is yet another indicator of the new Administration's flippant and autocratic approach to K-12 education,' Pen America said in its own Instagram post.
Moore said the exclusion cut particularly deep because she was educated at one such school in Germany, and is the proud daughter of her Vietnam vet dad.
'It is galling for me to realize that kids like me, growing up with a parent in the service and attending a (DOD) school will not have access to a book written by someone whose life experience is so similar to their own,' Moore wrote, adding: 'I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right.'
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