On 9/11/17 the Mukwonago School Board decided to remove fiction novels from the Mukwonago School District. The reasoning was because studies showed students read little nonfiction.

These changes may seem outrageous, but the renowned scholar Ms. Jester of the Literacy Institute of Education states, “They can’t be expected to be prepared to solve real-world problems if they are only reading about futuristic societies, romance, dragons, magic, etc. They need to be exposed to the lives of real people from history who preserved and solved real problems.” Because of the data presented by her, the School Board decided that all sixth through eighth graders are required to read only nonfiction books, and all fiction novels from school libraries are required to be removed from the classrooms to be stored in a secure location.

Student’s reactions to this were not supportive. “This is outrageous,” one student claimed after hearing this news. This was not good, because fiction fuels the imagination. If this news were true, there would have been many angry letters to the School Board, however, minutes after, students were informed that the email was a hoax, and Ms. Jester from the Literacy Institute for Education (L.I.E.) did not exist. All fiction books were allowed to be read and kept in school libraries. Students were relieved that the email was fake, but were a little mad that their ELA teacher tricked them.