Texas Board Reclassifies Indigenous Book as 'Fiction'

A review board in Texas has made the controversial decision to reclassify a book about a Native American tribe from nonfiction to fiction in a public library. The move regarding Colonization and the Wampanoag Story came after Montgomery County stripped the review board of librarians, reports LoneStarLive.com. The rationale for the board's decision isn't known because its meetings aren't open to the public. "I can only assume it is because it is a telling of the history of Indigenous people that they do not approve of," says Teresa Kenney, who owns the independent Village Books store in the county. Kenney obtained public records showing that an anonymous person objected to the book last month for unspecified reasons, per Popular Information.

The review board then took up the complaint and reclassified the middle-grade book, which explores the "true story of the Indigenous Nations of the American Northeast, including the Wampanoag nation and others, and their history up to present day," according to publisher Penguin Random House. Author Linda Coombs is a longtime tribe historian. The Library of Congress considers the book to be nonfiction, as do the library systems in Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth.

Earlier this year, the Montgomery County Commissioners Court removed librarians from the panel that reviews books written for children and young adults, and made new appointments. "We have individuals on there based upon their view and what we believe are the views of our community," said Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough at the time, per LoneStarLive.com. Popular Information reports the move came after pressure from the conservative group Two Moms and Some Books, which has the slogan "Make Libraries Great Again!" At a meeting last week, Kenney asked the county to "return librarian oversight" to the panel. (More Texas stories.)