Okay, okay, sure. Maybe the Chicago school board didn't have it all wrong when they thought that this book might be a handful for some students. After all, we do have the power trio of violence, sex and drugs in a book that we teach to teens. Though this book might be rated PG in some places, we think, and we hope you'll listen, that the valuable lessons far outweigh the rolling limbs.

To start, liberty is probably our country's favorite word. We throw it around like potato salad in the cafeteria food fight of the world. And, we take it for granted. And, more importantly, we sometimes hide the not-so-liberating things we do, like hate crimes, and the torture of Afghan prisoners at the hands of our military. For students to be put in the know in terms of the political violence that is happening around the world is crucial to their growing up to be informed, proactive and empathetic citizens.