Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

BAN THIS BOOK by Alan Gratz is intended for younger readers (grades 3 to 6), but I absolutely wanted to include a review here since it does a superb job of addressing censorship in school libraries. I read it in one sitting and highly recommend it. Introvert and fourth grader Amy Anne Ollinger finds her voice and the courage to stand up for reading when a parent begins a campaign to ban an ever increasing list of books. Amy Anne creates the B.B.L.L. (Banned Books Locker Library) and is joined by her classmates in an inspirational show of unity that could lead middle school readers to take action in their own communities.  In many ways, BAN THIS BOOK is reminiscent of the award winning Frindle by Andrew Clements and I think young readers will be equally captivated.  One of the most fun aspects was the frequent reference to favorite titles like From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – BAN THIS BOOK will also introduce young readers to many worthwhile titles. Excellent!

Life imitating Art?

I read Cory Doctorow's Little Brother last year and would highly recommend it, as do authors Neil Gaiman and Scott Westerfeld. The main character, Marcus, is detained and questioned by Homeland Security mostly for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I was struck by parallels to the real life detention and recent questioning by Homeland Security of a Pomona College student -- prompted in part by his having some Arabic flash cards in his backpack at the airport. Here's the Wall Street Journal article. While plenty of references are being made to Orwell's 1984, this story will also make an interesting twist to my next book talk about Doctorow's excellent work.