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'Lawn Boy': Texas mom says son found book about 4th graders' sex in school library

Brandi Burkman said at the school meeting about 'Lawn Boy': 'Who normalizes sex acts between fourth graders? Pedophiles'

Parents of students at the Leander Independent School District in Texas have reportedly drawn attention to a book they believe is inappropriate for children and has no place in campus libraries. As per a report, the Leander Police Department has also been contacted about the book’s content and it is investigating the matter.

The book in question is ‘Lawn Boy’ by Jonathan Evison. Washington Post’s review of the book describes it as “a semi-autobiographical tale spiked with angst and anger, but also full of humor and lots of hope.” At a September 9 school board meeting, a parent described the content of the book as depraved and likened some passages to pedophilia. 

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Brandi Burkman was the parent, and during the public comment portion of the school board meeting, she was allotted three minutes to address the board. Burkman read several passages from the book, which she said her son checked out from the Leander High School library. In the passages, a young adult reflects on sexual encounters he had with another boy when the two were in fourth grade.

Burkman’s words from the meeting were shared on TikTok and has since been shared all over social media. “This is my son, Cameron. He attends Leander High School and I’m going to explain to you the book that he received,” she said. “Last week I asked my children if I could check the books that they’ve picked up from the school. My son picked up this brand new book from the shelves in class, ‘Lawn Boy’. He was under the impression it was about a kid that ends up with a gig mowing the grass at Disneyland. I’d like to share a few quotes with you.”

On page 19, she said was the following quote: “Not that it really matters, in fourth grade at a church youth group meeting out in the bushes, I touched Doug Goebbels d**k, and he touched mine. In fact, there was even some mouths involved.” On page 91, she read, “What if I told you I touched another guy’s d**k? What if I told you I sucked it? I was ten years old, but it’s true. I put Doug Goebbels’ d**k in my mouth. I was in fourth grade, it was no big deal. He sucked mine too. And you know what, it wasn’t terrible.”

She then read a quote from page 174: “He talked about all times at the church but never mentioned our penises, or the fact that he never said ten words to me after our little foray in the bushes. Not a single reference to holding or tugging or sucking d**ks. All I could think about while he was chatting me up, was his little salamander between my fourth-grade fingers, rapidly engorging with blood.”

On page 230, she claimed it said, “Why won’t you admit we suck each other’s d**ks? We shared a HERSHEY’s Bar, then you showed me your d**k. The next thing I know it’s in my mouth. We suck each other’s d**ks and you’re pretending it didn’t happen.” 

“What sort of diversity are you intending to teach my child with material like this? In addition, I’ll share with you the exceptional quality of vocabulary, I stopped counting on page 66 After 44 f**ks, and 41 s**ts. The depravity of the content on the shelves in our schools cannot be mitigated with policy,” said Burkman. She also asked, “What sort of educational environment do you think the plethora of sexually graphic books selections create for my children or for any child for that matter? I won’t go into my fourth-grade daughter but we don’t, this is not a thing for fourth graders. Who normalizes sex acts between fourth graders? I’ll tell you who. Pedophiles.”

Leander Police said two parents filed reports about obscenities in the book and that the department is investigating. The police added the results of their investigation will be turned over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) or a prosecutor. A third community member later told CBS Austin that they were also filing a complaint about the book but they declined to go on camera.

The school district, however, has informed that the book is not taught in any classroom and is only available to some students through the campus library. The statement said, “The book ‘Lawn Boy’ by Jonathan Evison is not a part of our district curriculum. We have not received any formally filed complaints through the process outlined in the Board policy.”

The district added that the book may be available to some junior and senior English students through campus libraries. They said that Leander High School staff has reached out to Burkman about how to file an official complaint but they say so far, a complaint or request for the district to review the book has not been filed. The district also said books are selected according to several criteria that are in alignment with board policy and library services. They said that any parent can request for any book to be reviewed by contacting the district.