Censorship With a Happy Face

"It was clear that what really got her was that I used the word 'censorship,'" Kovac says. "She kept asking, 'Why did you use that word? No one has called this censorship. Why did you use that word?'"

That day, Kovac went home and contacted the ACLU. Attorney Martha Matthews said she was interested in the case, but would rather proceed with a united front—that is, with both Enterline and Kovac onboard.

That would take months. But in December, Enterline, finally frustrated, decided to join the battle. On Dec. 21, a day before the school let out for Christmas vacation, the suit was announced. That day, teachers were instructed not to talk to reporters. Enterline says she was told by Smith and Billings how disappointed they were that she hadn't given them more time, that they were just about to attend to the matter. "I told them they should have told me about that, that all I've asked for this whole time is for someone to communicate with me [about] what's going on," Enterline says.

What's going on now is not much. Enterline has attempted to broker a truce by offering to send the offending biographies to one of Anaheim's high schools if she is allowed to order a set of similar gay- and lesbian-themed books with a lower reading level.

"I just want this to be over," Enterline says.

But in this regard, Kovac agrees with the school official who told Enterline that the books have changed the school's dynamic forever, that "nothing would ever be the same again."

"Yeah, it's changed for good. Well, we'll see if it's for the good," said Kovac, who these days is wading through The Gods Are Thirsty, a historical novel about the French Revolution.