Great Britain's Education Department has decided to pull several classic tales written by American authors from its schools' curriculum and replace them with more works from England's own authors.

Under the order of Minister of Education Michael Gove, high school students will not be required to read such American masterpieces as "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Of Mice and Men" or "The Crucible," Fox News reported.

Although the department has removed the books from the English literature syllabus, it said it was not banning any of the books.

"In the past, English literature GCSEs [General Certificate of Secondary Education standards] were not rigorous enough, and their content was often far too narrow," the department said in a statement. "We published the new subject content for English literature in December. It doesn't ban any authors, books or genres. It does ensure pupils will learn about a wide range of literature, including at least one Shakespeare play, a 19th-century novel written anywhere and post-1914 fiction or drama written in the British Isles."

Paul Dodd, the head of one of Britain's exam boards, told London's Sunday Times that Gove's personal preferences played a role in his insistence on altering the curriculum.

"'Of Mice and Men,' which Michael Gove really dislikes, will not be included," Dodd said. "It was studied by 90 percent of teenagers taking English literature GCSE in the past. Michael Gove said that was a really disappointing statistic."

Fox reported that Gove has been especially vocal about the types of literature English pupils should be reading and said that children, beginning at the age of 11, should read 50 books a year. He also said he would prefer to see schoolchildren reading "Middlemarch" written by George Eliot as opposed to "Twilight" penned by Stephenie Meyer, an American author.

However, Telegraph in London reported that Gove's new reading syllabus has been met with stark criticism from more than 30,000 academics and readers who have signed a petition to reinstate the American novels. Gove responded to his critics in an opinion piece he wrote for the Telegraph in which he stated exam boards could still include American authors in the curriculum.

"I have not banned anything. Nor has anyone else. All we are doing is asking exam boards to broaden -- not narrow -- the books young people study for GCSE," Gove said. "There are in reality, four exam boards that can offer GCSE English literature, and there are no rules requiring them to exclude or marginalize any writer."'

John Carey, an Oxford University professor, voiced his outrage toward Gove's decision.

"The idea of cutting out American books because they are not British is crazy," he said.

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