Virginia county removes Sherlock Holmes from school list

Posted: 08.12.2011 at 7:35 AM

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is seen in this 1922 photo. / AP photo

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Sherlock Holmes' first adventure has been removed from sixth-grade reading lists in a central Virginia county.

Brette Stevenson, a parent of a Henley Middle School student, had complained that "A Study in Scarlet" is derogatory toward Mormons.

The Daily Progess reports that the Albemarle County School Board voted Thursday night to remove the book. A committee commissioned to study the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel said in a report that it's not age-appropriate for sixth-graders.

The book includes a flashback to 1847 Utah that recounts the actions of a Mormon community when a non-Mormon man wants to marry the daughter of one of its members.

Stevenson said she's pleased with the decision.

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