A book being used in an American Literature class has a student and his mother so offended that the mother has threatened to file a civil-rights complaint.

The mother, Dolores Fisher, alleges racial mistreatment, the segregation of her son and the use of a racial slur in the classroom.

The book at the center of the controversy is Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

The Peoria Unified School District is working with Fisher to resolve the issue surrounding the book, but Fisher feels that the current procedures in place need to be improved.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is required reading at Cactus High School.

But it soon became a troubled tale when Fisher's 15-year-old son brought it home and said he wasn't comfortable reading it in class.

"I read it and I was in shock," she said. "When I went to high school in New York, I actually didn't have to read it because it was taken off shelves."

Fisher's upset with the derogatory word that appears more than 400 times in the book.

But the blow came when Fisher says she contacted her son's teacher and was told to take it up with the school board.

"We have policies in the district to allow parents to opt their students out of classes," said Jim Cummings of the Peoria School District. "Their students are given alternative reading assignments where the child can be moved to another class where the book isn't being used."

Fisher feels the teacher should have offered an abridged version of the text or another book altogether. But the teacher didn't, so Fisher feels she only had one option: For her son to choose an alternative reading assignment, which meant he had to be separated from his class.

Even though other parents feel it's a parent's right, they don't take offense to the book.

"It's a very good book by a very famous author," said parent Carl Stacey. "I think it has some good virtues in it. I don't see anything wrong with it at all."

The district says it's not uncommon to have parents talk to school leaders about certain reading material. But it is uncommon for a parent to have their child pulled from a particular class.

The school board will be reviewing its procedures.