Have you read the book, "A Handmaiden's Tale"? Do you think it is appropriate material for required reading in a lit class, for Seniors in High School?

A friend of a friend said her daughter was given the assignment. Her mom did what I would have done, and looked through the book. She said it is about young sex slaves, has scenes of rape, and graphic sexual descriptions. I looked up the synopsis of it on the net, and the concept of the book…set in future times…is intriguing, but my friend’s friend was very, very angry over the sexual content in the book. Word has it that she took the book to the principal, read an excerpt out of it, and the principal was very embarrassed and apologetic.

I tried to get a copy of it at the library today so I could come to a firmer conclusion of this (they didn’t have it) but from what it sounds like to me, it was totally inappropriate to “force” the kids to read something like that.

If you’ve read it, I’d like to hear your opinion on this.