Residents of the Gloversville Enlarged School District should appreciate the district's recent discussion about a new book proposed for the school's 11th- and 12th-grade reading list.

The book, "Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI," is by East Greenbush native Ryan Smithson, who fought in the Iraq war. The book was published recently by HarperCollins.

It's described as a coming-of-age book that includes some profanity and sexual references. The district approved the book.

Two district English teachers told the school board recently the book's message is important for teens who are close to making decisions about their future.

The book is about the author's experience of joining the Army Reserve after high school, marrying his high school sweetheart and being deployed to Iraq. He works as an equipment operator in the war, salvages parts from blown-up Humvees and interacts with Iraqi children. He later returns home and works with children in his hometown

The book, which is geared toward a young-adult audience, is educational in many ways and may be enlightening for teenagers.

It's important for school boards to scrutinize some books, as the Gloversville board did with this one. Some works that contain gratuitous profanity and sex have no place in the school, but books showing the good and bad of reality and giving students a useful message have merit, even if they contain some objectionable material.

"Ghosts of War" also is relevant for local students because the author is from a nearby community. In this excerpt from the first chapter, Smithson talks about the day after Sept. 11, 2001: "The next day at school Heather told me she'd had a dream we were attacked. Right in Albany, she said. You could see the city exploding from Denny's, where we worked. Since then, once in a while, she had these dreams. They were always different scenarios related to terrorism, but we were always together." Considering Smithson's connection to the area, we wouldn't be surprised if the author were willing to come to Gloversville and talk to students about his book.

Despite some of its provocative content, the book is an educational tool that school districts should be willing to share with their older high school students.