Ban This Book is not the newest title by this very good storytelling author, but it is being used as a school-wide book for this season here at River City so I also wanted to read it (along with my human, of course!). The title tells it all - a book about censorship and banning books, which means telling you what you can and cannot read (or see, or hear) based on one person's opinion (or sometimes a group of people) of what is appropriate.
In this story, Amy Anne goes to the school library one day to discover that her favorite book of all time - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - has been banned, and thus taken off the shelf forever. She is incensed (which means she was more than just angry), and immediately began to find out why, what had happened, and how to correct it. She gets help in some unexpected places and the journey to fix what seems easily wrong is not so easy.
This theme of banning books is timely, given it is Banned Books Month (October this year), and one of Vivi's last posts on this blog before retiring was the book Attack of the Black Rectangles, also a book about censorship and banning books. Banning books is a serious issue for those of us who like books - all books - and the idea of everyone - you, me, my human, everyone! Last year there were more challenges and banned books in the United States than any other year prior. More and more people are deciding it is their right to decide what you and I read. I don't know about you, but I will choose what I read, thank you very much!
Ban This Book takes place in an elementary school, but Gratz is a great storyteller, and the message is a good one for any age or grade. If you are not already reading this book, stop by the library and check it out! I think you'll like it! 4 paws!
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