‘Fault in Our Stars’ Author John Green ‘Sad’ That California School District Banned Book

A Riverside Unified School District committee sides with a parent who deemed the book “inappropriate” for middle-school readers

John Green is 'sad' that a middle school in California has banned "The Fault in Our Stars"
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“The Fault in Our Stars” author John Green has responded to the young adult book being banned from Riverside, Calif. middle schools because parents deemed it “inappropriate,” due to elements of death, sex and language.

Green took to his Tumblr on Thursday to say he’s “both happy and sad” to hear the news that a Riverside Unified School District committee voted 6-1 on Monday to pull all three copies of the 2012 novel from the library at Frank Augustus Miller Middle School.

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“I am happy because apparently young people in Riverside, California will never witness or experience mortality since they won’t be reading my book, which is great for them,” Green wrote.

He added: “But I am also sad because I was really hoping I would be able to introduce the idea that human beings die to the children of Riverside, California and thereby crush their dreams of immortality.”

See photos: ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ Premiere: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, John Green Hit the Red Carpet

“The Fault in Our Stars” was the basis for the weepy romantic drama starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as two teens who meet at a cancer support group and fall in love, despite the impossible odds they have to live a long life. Produced on just a $12 million budget, the film grossed over $300 million worldwide.

The Riverside School District decided to ban the book after Karen Krueger, a parent, complained to the book reconsideration committee, which includes teachers, parents, a principal, librarian and instructional services specialist.

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“I just didn’t think it was appropriate for an 11-, 12-, 13-year-old to read,” Krueger told Press Enterprise. “I was really shocked it was in a middle school.”

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