Children's Classic Huck Finn Gets Rid of "N"-Word

"It certainly is controversial and it has been for many years," said Barbara Pickell, the Director of the Clearwater Public Library.

Published in 1885, Mark Twain's, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is known as the America's greatest novel.

However, says Pickell, over the years, many educators have opted out of teaching the childrens' classic because of the offensive language. Specifically, the "N"-word used 219 times.

So, Mark Twain scholar, Alan Gribbons, an Auburn University Professor, decided to make a change to the classic novel through publishing company NewSouth. In February, a version of the classic will replace the "N"-word with the word, "slave."

"It enables us to set this inflammatory racial epithet aside and begin to address the greatness of Twain's works," Gribbons told CBS News.

Pickell calls the move censorship. "It does take us away from the true literary work and what the author really meant to say in the words that really represented the time and place that he was covering," said Pickell.

Mother Dayna Saltarelli said, "I'm on the fence about it because that's the way it was... We're at a different time than the original but I still want him to know the history."

Another mom Decynthia Clements said, "I think that's a great idea." She sees both sides too but one outweighs the other. "It is complicated but it is a benefit. So, anything that is a plus I would go for."

Since the director of the Clearwater Library is against censorship, Pickell will offer the new version of this old classic. In fact, she has already ordered her copies.

"We're going to have it because that's what libraries do. We have material on all sides of controversial issues so we give people choices," said Pickell.

Both moms are happy to hear that and choose to read the revised edition with their sons.

Keep in mind, NewSouth is not the only publisher. There are many different companies that publish the classic novel. That means the original version will continue to be published as is.

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Reprinted with permission