New Zealand Bans ' Into the river' award winning novel

 

Censors in New Zealand have placed an interim ban on an award-winning book for teenagers - the first such restriction in more than 20 years.

It's now illegal to sell or distribute Into the River by Ted Dawe, including at schools and libraries

The decision by New Zealand's Film and Literature Board of Review follows a complaint from conservative lobbying group Family First, which objects to the novel's sexual content and descriptions of teenage drug-taking.

The book, about a Maori boy who faces bullying and racism, won top prize at the 2013 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

But it's now become the first book to be banned since the current law was passed in 1993,