Ban This Book

by Alan Gratz

Overview

You’re Never Too Young to Fight Censorship!

In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don’t mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.

Ban This Book is a stirring defense against censorship that’s perfect for middle grade readers. Let kids know that they can make a difference in their schools, communities, and lives!

“Readers, librarians, and all those books that have drawn a challenge have a brand new hero…. Stand up and cheer, book lovers. This one’s for you." —Kathi Appelt, author of the Newbery Honor-winning The Underneath

“Ban This Book is absolutely brilliant and belongs on the shelves of every library in the multiverse.”—Lauren Myracle, author of the bestselling Internet Girls series, the most challenged books of 2009 and 2011

“Quick paced and with clear, easy-to-read prose, this is a book poised for wide readership and classroom use.”—Booklist

"A stout defense of the right to read." —Kirkus Reviews

“Gratz delivers a book lover’s book that speaks volumes about kids’ power to effect change at a grassroots level." —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765385581
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	28,867
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	690L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

ALAN GRATZ is the author of many critically-acclaimed books for children and teens, including Samurai Shortstop, an ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults; Prisoner B-3087; The Brooklyn Nine; Refugee; and the League of Seven trilogy (The League of Seven, The Dragon Lantern, The Monster War). A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Alan is now a full-time writer living in western North Carolina with his wife and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Readers, librarians, and all those books that have drawn a challenge have a brand new hero in Amy Anne Ollinger. She's a true champion and testament to how doing a good thing is the first step in finding your own courage."—Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor winning author of The Underneath

"Ban This Book is absolutely brilliant and belongs on the shelves of every library in the multiverse."—Lauren Myracle, author of the best-selling Internet Girls series, the most challenged books of 2009 and 2011

“Quick paced and with clear, easy-to-read prose, this is a book poised for wide readership and classroom use.”—Booklist

"A stout defense of the right to read." —Kirkus Reviews

“Gratz delivers a book lover’s book that speaks volumes about kids’ power to effect change at a grassroots level." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

06/12/2017
Fourth grader Amy Anne Ollinger is an avid reader, and when she learns that her favorite book, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, is on a list of titles removed from the school library, she decides to read the other books on the list, from the likes of Blume, Dahl, and Pilkey. Other students want to do the same, and so the Banned Books Locker Library is born. Amy Anne and two friends collect the books, store them in her locker, and organize a checkout/due date system. When their secret library is discovered, Amy Anne is suspended, the school librarian is fired, and her classmates (including the boy whose mother initiated the books’ removal) come up with a plan to get the books restored to the library. Shy readers will recognize and respect Amy Anne’s struggle to stand up for herself, and conversations about book banning, censorship, and the Bill of Rights are primed for discussion in classrooms and at home. Gratz (Projekt 1065) delivers a book lover’s book that speaks volumes about kids’ power to effect change at a grassroots level. Ages 8–12. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

10/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Fourth grader Amy Anne is a "good girl" who does what she's told. She's used to being overlooked in her noisy family, keeping quiet at school, and not saying what she's really thinking. But when Amy Anne's favorite book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, is one of the titles banned from the school library by the overzealous PTA president, she can't swallow the injustice. When she is too scared to speak up at the school board meeting, she decides she can at least find and read all of the banned books. Soon other students are requesting to borrow them, and before long, Amy Anne; her friend Rebecca, an aspiring lawyer; and Rebecca's crush, Danny, are running the Banned Books Locker Library out of Amy Anne's locker. When the underground library is discovered, Amy Anne is suspended, and Dr. Jones, the librarian, is fired. Help comes from an unexpected source: Trey, the PTA president's son, who suggests a way to show the board what happens when one person's opinion affects access for everyone. The story of Amy Anne's personal triumph is also a celebration of literature, free speech, and finding one's voice. A reading and activity guide is included. VERDICT An excellent addition to all middle grade collections. Hand this to book lovers, aspiring librarians, or any kid who wants to make a difference.—Laurie Slagenwhite Walters, Brighton District Library, Brighton, MI

School Library Journal

2017-06-05
A shy fourth-grader leads the revolt when censors decimate her North Carolina school's library. In a tale that is dominated but not overwhelmed by its agenda, Gratz takes Amy Anne, a young black bibliophile, from the devastating discovery that her beloved From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler has been removed from the library at the behest of Mrs. Spencer, a despised classmate's mom, to a qualified defense of intellectual freedom at a school board meeting: "Nobody has the right to tell you what books you can and can't read except your parents." Meanwhile, as more books vanish, Amy Anne sets up a secret lending library of banned titles in her locker—a ploy that eventually gets her briefly suspended by the same unsympathetic principal who fires the school's doctorate-holding white librarian for defiantly inviting Dav Pilkey in for an author visit. Characters frequently serve as mouthpieces for either side, sometimes deadly serious and other times tongue-in-cheek ("I don't know about you guys, but ever since I read Wait Till Helen Comes, I've been thinking about worshipping Satan"). Indeed, Amy Anne's narrative is positively laced with real titles that have been banned or challenged and further enticing teasers for them. Contrived at some points, polemic at others, but a stout defense of the right to read. (discussion guide) (Fiction. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews