After researching books listed on their summer reading list, a set of Chicago, 8th-grade twins stumbled upon one book that contained a racist past.
“Why would this book be on the reading list? Especially with what is going on. Like, did nobody check to see,” Phallon Pierce asked.
The book in question is called “Then There Were None’, by Agatha Christie, which centers around 10 strangers who were lured to an Indian Island by a strange host. Once the strangers arrived on the island, the host accused each of them of murder. Unable to leave the island, the 10 strangers began sharing the darkest secrets- until they began to die.
Before the book was titled “Then There Were None,” the Pierce twins uncovered that the original title in 1939 was “Ten Little N***ers,” with the image of a black person being hung on the front cover.
“Is this the image that we are trying to show. A book that originally had the n-word on it,” Kyra Pierce said.
After discovering the book’s racial history, the twins’ parents emailed their daughter’s school, St. Dominic School in Bolingbrook.
“You would expect more action,” Alfred Pierce, the twins’ father, stated.
“Quicker, Indecisive action,” Sandy Pierce added.
She continued:
” To not know is one thing, but to know and not do anything… that’s something completely different.”
After Fox 32 Chicago reached out to the school, St. Dominic issued a letter to the students’ parents informing them that the book has been removed, along with another book that may have caused controversy.
“[We do] not endorse, encourage, or condone speech that is derogatory towards another person in any way for any reason. Both books contain verbiage that we don’t condone. I apologize for any inadvertent offense that was felt by the inclusion of these two books on our summer reading list”, the letter read.
Now, Phallon feels like speaking up against the controversial book made a difference.
“It feels like I have a voice that is finally going to be heard,” she said.
Kyra added:
” I want kids to know that they can use their anger and sadness for good and for good reasons, like the book list.”
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I would love to see the letter or paper these ladies wrote to argue for the removal of this book and To Kill A Mockingbird from the reading list. Both books are of huge literary importance. And Then There Were None is the top selling mystery novel of ALL TIME as well as the sixth best seller internationally ever in any genre on some lists. Agatha Christie started an entirely new style of writing with that book that continues to this day. Books chosen for school are not always just about the story but used to learn writing techniques. If someone further studied Agatha Christie, you would see much of the racism is against foreigners, generally, most notably Orientals and Jews. But she also makes fun of the upper middle class (such as doctors) in her books and the murder is most often not someone of the working, non-elite class like the butler. Further, Agatha Christie has penned some of the first notable women sleuths and so much more! Perhaps, it would be better to keep the books on the list and delve into all of this more with students.
Removing this book is a travesty. The original title used the language of the day. Outside of an offensive word appearing in a long-discarded title, there is not one single aspect of this novel that is offensive in any way. I wonder if the person who complained about this book ever actually read it. What a shame. Readers at that school will be denied the chance to study an incredible book. I only hope that other schools aren’t so petty and reactionary.