STAFFORD, Va. - A 752-page book is getting a closer reading in Stafford County, as a group of citizens want it off the AP reading list.

The book in question is Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States." The author says the text looks at history through the eyes of people outside the political and economic establishment.

While the book has sold more than one million copies since 1980, it's now up for formal review in a Stafford County High School.

Those who've read the book in its entirety have very different views. Former AP student Kristina Perez highly recommends the book saying, "It's a dense read, but I loved it."

Stafford resident Meg Jaworowski takes the opposite stance saying, "It's a real slander of American history."

Now, Stafford County schools must decide if Howard Zinn's book should be on an AP reading list at North Stafford High School. Jaworowski says she's disagreed with it being on the list since her husband saw teenagers reading it at a local pool.

"He said, 'So good to see kids reading history [on] summer break,'" Jaworowski said. "He asked what is it [and] they said AP history and they began to tell him about it."

Jaworowski read the book and says she disagreed with the author's perspective, calling it propaganda. Although she homeschools her two youngest children, Jaworowski doesn't think it's a good choice for high school students still learning history.

"Even though they're bright kids in AP, they don't have the judgment to put this book into proper respective," she said.

Perez, Jaworowski's next-door neighbor, disagrees. "It's college level, college textbook, college credit, and I don't think there's any reason to keep people from college-level material," she said.

Nevertheless, Jaworowski and six others spoke before the school board this week, asking for the book to come off the required reading list. The school system will now begin a long decision-making process, weighing if a book used for more than a decade is still appropriate.

Sources say there's no deadline for a school decision and the high school history teacher chose not to comment on the issue.

Though Jaworowski's children are not students in Stafford County public schools, she says she's concerned about history education and that's why she's chosen to get involved.

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