Schools shun book over the 'S-Word'

A children's author has said she is "horrified" after her book was banned from some US schools and libraries.

Susan Patron's award-winning The Higher Power of Lucky has run into trouble because it contains the word "scrotum".

Schools in several states are refusing to stock the book, intended for ages nine to 12, which won the prestigious Newbery Medal for children's fiction.

Some librarians posting on message boards said the book "misjudged its audience" and used "shock treatment".

The offending word appears early on in the book when the heroine, Lucky Trimble, overhears a man talking about a snakebite to his dog.