I feel like one of the last readers who haven't read Harper Lee's masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird. I was never required to read for school. I had originally planned to read it for last years Banned Books Week but didn't have enough time. After finishing the book, I can see why it has remained so popular and given the marks of a classic novel.

Description: A young girl growing up in an Alabama town in the 1930s learns of injustice and violence when her father, a widowed lawyer, defends a black man falsely accused of rape.

Review: To Kill a Mockingbird is a complex novel that seamlessly weaves a coming of age story along with a critical look at the injustice and prejudice of a small southern town. Scout, our main narrator, is an unconventional girl in her society. She is a precocious child who is eager to learn, has plenty of self confidence, well aware of her surroundings, and has a pretty good moral compass thanks to her mild mannered father, Atticus Finch. I loved how Scout isn't forced to live within the confines of her social identity, but continues to act freely by wearing whatever clothes she likes, plays with boys, and openly addresses her father by his first name. She doesn't care of what people think of her nor what other girls her age are doing. She is comfortable in her own skin. It is through Scout's eyes that we slowly see the world we once thought was so simply divided into right and wrong become muddled, unfair, and even evil.
  Like many readers I'm sure, Atticus Finch was my favorite character. He is a role model and the epitome of a hero. He is intelligent, calm, and always well mannered. Atticus is respected by everyone, including the very poor. He functions as the moral backbone of Maycomb, a counselor whom others seek advice from when they are in times of doubt and trouble. It's ironic that his conscience that makes him so admirable ultimately causes him to be a social outcast as he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white man's daughter. Though Atticus’s action makes him the object of scorn in Maycomb, he also seems to retain his dignity and respect after the trial as before. What I love most about Atticus is that he practices the ethic of sympathy and understanding that he preaches to his children and never holds a grudge against the people of Maycomb. As a reader I had a hard time overlooking their racial intolerance but Atticus sees the goodness of the people. He recognizes that people have both good and bad qualities, and he is determined to admire the good while understanding and forgiving.
  It is obvious why To Kill a Mockingbird is controversial as it brings out the dark side of the American society, however, in less than 300 pages it manages to teach us many important lessons such as to place ourselves in other people's shoes before we make a rash decision, to not take advantage of those who are helpless than us, and that yes, sometimes life is really unfair. I'm amazed that Harper Lee wrote an edgy book 50 years ago and it still remains to challenge us to this day. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

Why it was challenged/banned: To Kill a Mockingbird has been one of the most popular classics that have been challenged/banned. Challenged in Eden Valley, Minn. (1977) and temporarily banned due to words "damn" and "whore lady" used in the novel. Challenged in the Vernon Verona Sherill, N.Y School District (1980) as a "filthy, trashy novel:" Challenged at the Warren, Ind.Township schools (1981) because the book does "psychological damage to the positive integration process " and "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature:" After unsuccessfully banning Lee's novel, three black parents resigned from the township human relations advisory council. Challenged in the Waukegan, III. School District (1984) because the novel uses the n word. Challenged in the Kansas City, Mo. junior high schools (1985). Challenged at the Park Hill, Mo. Junior High School (1985) because the novel "contains profanity and racial slurs:" Retained on a supplemental eighth grade reading list in the Casa Grande, Ariz. Elementary School District (1985), despite the protests by black parents and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who charged the book was unfit for junior high use. Challenged at the Santa Cruz, Calif. Schools (1995) because of its racial themes. Removed from the Southwood High School Library in Caddo Parish, La. (1995) because the book's language and content were objectionable. Challenged at the Moss Point, Miss. School District (1996) because the novel contains a racial epithet. Banned from the Lindale,Tex. advanced placement English reading list (1996) because the book "conflicted with the values of the community." Challenged by a Glynn County, Ga. (2001) school board member because of profanity. The novel was retained. Returned to the freshman reading list at Muskogee, Okla. High School (2001) despite complaints over the years from black students and parents about racial slurs in the text. Challenged in the Normal, ILL Community High Schools sophomore literature class (2003) as being degrading to African Americans. Challenged at the Stanford Middle School in Durham, N.C. (2004) because the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel uses the n word. The challenges continue today.  Source: ALA.

Words of Caution: The n word is prominent in the book and it is used by all age levels in the book. The book is a reflection of how people felt and thought during the 1930s which is the time setting of this novel. It further emphasizes the racial prejudices in this town. I'm not sure where how the book promotes prejudice and racism, but rather, advocates people to take a stand and not tolerate these injustices.

If you like this book try: The Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, I am Scout by Charles Shields

  Out of the seven books I've read for Banned Books Week, I'm more shocked and confused as to the reasons why Barbara Ehrenreich's best selling book Nickel and Dimed was challenged. The book is listed as the 8th most challenged book in 2010. With our economy in shambles and unemployment increasing, I would think more people would want to read Nickel and Dimed.


Description: Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the idea that having a job can be the ticket to a better life, but how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich went undercover and discovered the dark side of U.S. employment.


Review: I've heard great things about Nickel and Dimed for quite sometime, but never got around to actually reading it until now. I admit my expectations for the book were pretty high and I was a bit disappointed when the book didn't meet them. I was expecting a bit more of an analysis about the minimum wage jobs and more of a self-reflection from Ehrenreich herself, however, the book presents itself as a sociological experiment noting down only the results and very little explanation. 
   Ehrenreich is a well known social critic. After having lunch with a magazine editor at a pricey restaurant, Ehrenreich wonders aloud what it is like to be on the bottom of the working class. How can anyone survive just by working at a job that pays below the minimum wage? Ehrenreich curiosity led her to a social experiment where she subsequently spent about three months in three cities throughout the nation, attempting to "get by" on the salary available to low-paid and unskilled workers. Unlike many others who are employed at extremely low paid jobs, she is white, English-speaking, educated, healthy, has transportation and burdened by a family to take care of. During her stint at three cities, Ehrenreich tried to support herself by working as a waitress, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart employee. While employed she discovered that her average salary of $7 per hour couldn't even provide the necessities of life such as rent, transportation, and food, let alone the luxury of health coverage. 
  Enrereich's personal account is eye opening, enraging, and sobering. She holds nothing back as she describes how labor-intensive, demeaning, and controlling such jobs can be. I found the sections about her various jobs interesting. I had a hard time trying not to read the book as a novel but as an essay instead, but that is just because I'm so use to reading fiction with fast paced novels. In a concluding chapter, Ehrenreich takes on these issues and poses questions before and during the experiment such as why these wages are so low, why workers are so accepting of them, and what Washington's refusal to increase the minimum wage to a realistic "living wage" says about both our economy and our culture. There are a lot of questions asked but not many possible solutions given.


Rating: 3.5 stars


Curriculum Connection: Social Studies, Business Education


Why the book was challenged/banned: In 2010 at the Easton, Penn. School District (2010) the book challenged due to a parent's claim the book promotes “economic fallacies” and socialist ideas, as well as advocating the use of illegal drugs and belittling Christians. Despite these claims, the book was retained, however; the book was removed from the Bedford, N.H. School District’s required Personal Finance course in 2010 after two parents complained about the “book’s profanity, offensive references to Christianity, and biased portrayal of capitalism. Source: ALA


Words of Caution: I'm not sure how the book promotes "economic fallacies". It's hard to deny jobs that there are jobs available that pay less than the minimum wage and often times these jobs are the less desirable ones. Though Ehrenreich does lean towards a socialistic viewpoint and uses words such as proletariat and bourgeoisie in her description, I don't necessarily find these terms to express socialist ideas but just ways to show the large difference between the high earning and low earning classes. The author doesn't mention about income distributing equally but rather wanting workers to protest to get a better wage for themselves and stand up for their rights. There is language in the book, which in my opinion, shows how frustrating the circumstances the author finds herself in. As for the use of the illegal drugs, the author points out how often the question of drug use appears on job applications and is a concern of employers. In regards to the belittling Christians, there are a few references where Enhrenreich compares being a maid to a prostitute as stating Mary Magdalene's job which I agree is in bad taste. Due to the book's content, I would recommend to adults and high school students interested in economics and social issues. 


If you like this book try: Kara, Lost by Susan Niz or Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class by Barbara Ehrenreich



   According to Random.org, the winner for the The Predicteds giveaway is Sablelex! Congrats, Sablelex . I sent you an email. Please respond within 72 hours or I will have to pick a new winner.

  I've meant to pick up Kevin Henke's Olive's Ocean for quite some time. The book has received many starred reviews as well as nominated for the Newbery Award in 2004. Olive's Ocean goes to show that even award and critically acclaimed books aren't safe from challenges either.

Description (from the book's inside panel): Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't-and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it.
  Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere. And this year Martha's routine at her beloved grandmother's beachshide house is complicated by the Manning boys. Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke, and Leo. But especially Jimmy. What if, what if, what if, what if? The world can change in a minute.

Review: Olive's Ocean opens with a very simple yet powerful opening scene that stirs our emotions. Our main character, Martha, opens the door and is greeted by a strange woman holding an envelope announces who announces: "Olive Barstow was my daughter." Olive, a schoolmate that Martha had barely noticed, has recently been killed in a car accident. The envelope contains an extract from Olive's diary in which she shares her dreams, including the hope that Martha, who she states is "the nicest person in my whole entire class," would become her friend. With this original and compelling opening scene Henkes draws us into one summer in the life of a familiar, convincing, likeable twelve-year-old girl. A girl who is slowly losing her childhood innocence as she realized that we are all mortal.
  I liked Martha right away. She is a quiet, introvert who keeps her dreams of becoming a famous writer a secret in fears that her aspiring-writer father will think she is just copying him. She slowly comes out of her shell as her eyes are open to the world around her. Martha experiences at her grandmother's house has all the elements of a traditional summer novel: a house by the sea, playing at the beach and board games, and a summer crush. The book's setting offers the idea of summer as the time between, the hinge time of growth and change.
  What sets Olive's Ocean apart from all the other summer novels is that at its core the book is about the web of relationships with Martha. Like many younger siblings have witness and experienced, Martha's older and beloved brother begins to pull away, the first indication that times are changing. Martha sees her grandmother with new eyes, one who has a world of experience yet still retains vulnerability and insecurities in her old age. Martha and her mother can't seem to stop irritating each other. Her summer crush turns out differently from what Martha expected. All of these relationships are created and feel natural. The heavy issues of realizing death's sudden appearance are handled with care, grace, and humor. You can tell that the author has respect for his characters and they all come alive on the page. Although we don't know who the real Olive is, we do get a chance to see what her life could have been as we vicariously live through Martha's experiences. Olive's Ocean is a deceptively clever and complex look at how the life of another can add dimension to our own existence.

Rating: 4 stars


Why it was challenged/banned: Olive's Ocean was number 59 on the list for the most challenged book from 2000-2009 due to the book's "sexually explicit content and offensive language". I'm a bit surprised at the sexually explicit content charge since nothing even remotely sexual happens besides a kiss, which was even detailed. I'm guessing this claim was raised when Martha's 13 year old brother makes an offhand comment that his parents are exhibiting "morning sex behavior". The comment is something that I would expect a boy undergoing puberty to say. I'm sure many reasons would gloss this over and realize that the parents are happy because they have resolved their problems. There is mild language in the book, but nothing that you wouldn't find on a middle school playground or even a PG movie. 

Words of Caution: Mild language. I would recommend this book to strong Grade 5 readers and up.

If you like this book try: Shug by Jenny Han or The Austin Family Chronicles (particularly A Ring of Endless Light) by Madeline L'Engle

  Like Lush, I never heard of Adam Selzer's debut middle grade novel How to Get Suspended and Influence People before. I'm not sure if I would have gone out of my way to check it out, but I saw it listed on a challenged list by ALA and that in it of itself made me curious. The book tackles the ever controversial sex education curriculum in schools. 

Description: Gifted eighth-grader Leon Harris becomes an instant celebrity when the film he makes for a class project sends him to in-school suspension.

Review: Leon Harris is our sarcastic, smart aleck, and extremely witty narrator. He is a gifted eighth grader who participates in an advanced studies activity along with several of his equally intelligent, socially outcast friends. For their first assignment, each advanced student must film an educational health or safety advisory video to be shown to the younger middle-school students. Leon immediately thinks of the boring videos that he and his classmates have seen throughout the year particularly the out dated and uncomfortable sex education videos that never really address that plagues the ordinary tween. Leon decides he wants to do a sex-ed video that will address his peer's issues and anxiety with honesty so he signs up for the sex-ed topic. He decides to deviate from boring anatomical line drawings and cheesy cartoons in favor of a surreal, avant-garde video inspired by Fellini and Salvador Dal!. In fact he goes even further and names his movie La Dolce Pubert. He knows he can't use real nudity in his movie but cleverly goes around this issue by using a montage of classical nudes with close-ups on the 'good parts' and frank rhyming narration that comes off as quite comical and tongue in cheek. 
  While his advanced studies teacher applauds Leon's creativity, the moralistic and conservative teacher, Mrs. Smollett, who heads the gifted program finds Leon's video inappropriate for the student body. Her interference with Leon's video results in Leon's suspension. Leon's peers' interest in the video skyrockets and Leon becomes an instant celebrity. Whether or not Leon achieves victory is what the second half of the book is about. 
  I liked Leon. He is definitely a lot wiser than his years. His intention of making a sex-ed video never deviates from making an educating video that states "it's okay. it's normal". I don't think he even thought he could reach celebrity or fame with his video nor does his head swell up when he does. The book is definitely more slanted to the unconventional bent that clearly empathizes with Leon's attitude toward school, his budding relationships and the adults who seemingly don't understand him. Unfortunately, the book falls a bit flat in the last half of the book as we are told how the video is made and what Mrs. Smollet's reaction is instead of showing it. I felt the lack of describing the process lessened the impact of the book's purpose and it showcases the one dimensional opposing viewpoint. Selzer doesn't take into consideration that there are parents that oppose to sexual education being taught in schools and that opinion is also valid too. Despite these flaws, I thought the book was enjoyable. 

Rating: 3 stars

Why it was challenged/banned: In 2009 the book was challenged at the Nampa, Idaho Public Library by a parent appalled that the cover included an abstract drawing of a nude woman and the back cover contains some profanity. Source: ALA

Words of Caution: While there is an abstract drawing of a nude woman on the front cover, that depiction is most graphic as the book gets. There are no detailed graphic descriptions of which pictures Leon uses for his project. There is some mild profanity in the book, however, it is mild and not unlike what is heard in the school hallways. I would recommend this book to Grades 6 and up.


If you like this book try: The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashijan

  Author Chris Crutcher is not immune to challenges. In fact he is one of the authors listed that have been frequently challenged according to ALA. I only read a few books by the author including Deadline which was on the Abraham Lincoln list in Illinois. I just finished one of his well known book called Whale Talk.

Description: T.J. Jones is a multiracial, adopted teen, who shuns organized sports and the fervent athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students when he is asked for assistance by his English teacher.

Review: All of Chris Crutcher books, at least the ones I have read so far, have a sports foundation that also incorporates important issues. Whale Talk has all of the author's trademarks. Adopted, biracial high-school senior The Tao Jones (his birth mother named him after a philosophy and prefers to be just called T.J.) is well-adjusted on the surface. T.J. is a smart, likable kid with a great sense of humor and athletic ability. He is your model student who effortlessly glides through school with decent grades and for the most part active in the social scene. Unlike many males in his high school, T. J. doesn't need competitive sports to create his identity. Though Cutter High School jocks and coaches see he is wasting his athletic potential and go far as calling him a traitor and other insults for not having enough school spirit.  T. J. backtracks his promise of not joining a sport when English teacher-coach Mr. Simet makes an unconventional offer: Be the anchor of the swim team and pick your teammates.  The offer is perfect, especially since racist football bully Mike Barbour has taken up letter jackets as a cause. It seems developmentally disabled Chris Coughlin has been wearing his dead brother's jacket, and Mike is annoyed. If Chris, naturally comfortable in the water, is on the swim team, T. J. reasons, Chris will earn a jacket of his own, and Mike will be put in his place.
  Whale Talk is more than your average sports book as the author also includes several side plots in his story such as T.J.'s father atoning for a past tragedy, T.J.'s therapist treating the biracial and severely abused daughter of Cutter's biggest athletic booster, and the misfit team members T.J. has assembled have their own personal problems. While this may be over the top, Crutcher handles these several topics well with honesty, humor, and wonderful insight. The characters are well-constructed characters and quick pacing add tension to how the sometimes cruel and abusive circumstances of life affect every link in the human chain. There is a heartwrenching series of plot twists leads to an end that I wasn't ready to deal with but shows that goodness at least partially prevails.
 While most people may be alarmed at the language used in this book, they are overlooking the great themes presented in the story: overcoming obstacles and adversity, everyday acts of racism, and most importantly forgiveness. If there is anything that bothers me about this book, it is the book cover which features a white male on the cover running. The cover does not reflect anything about the book or the characters at all.  Firstly, T.J. is mixed race and that is a huge part of his identity and main focus for the story. Secondly, the sport is not running but swimming. I'm alarmed at how this blatantly wrong cover could be placed on this book. It is another example of whitewashing covers of books that feature a character of color. I actually had to do a double-take when I retrieved Whale Talk from the library's bookshelf. I had thought I had made a mistake and picked up a different book. I even had to reread the inside panel to make sure it was the story. 

Rating: 4 stars

Why it was challenged/banned: Whale Talk has been challenged several time and even has been banned. Here is a look at the book's controversy: In 2005 and 2006, Whale Talk was removed from all five Limestone County (AL) high school libraries because of the book's use of profanity. It was also removed from suggested reading list for a pilot English-literature curriculum by the superintendent of the SC Board of Education. At this time, the book was also challenged at the Grand Ledge (MI) High School. In 2007 and 2008, Whale Talk was challenged at the Missouri Valley (IA) High School because the book uses racial slurs and profanity as well as challenged as an optional reading in a bullying unit at the Lake Oswego (OR) Junior High School because the novel is "peppered with profanities, ranging from derogatory slang terms to sexual encounters and violence." Source: Marshall Library

Words of Caution: Whale Talk does contain strong language, primarily with the use of the "n" word. The offensive language is not just thrown into the novel just for the sake of controversy, but rather it serves as a reason to make us uncomfortable. It is alarming how easily the word is used by the characters, but it also serves us as a reminder of how prominent it is used in our culture. Why don't we talk about racism and prejudice in a though provoking novel such as this instead of taking the easy and well stupid way out of removing it out of the discussion because it makes us comfortable? Chris Crutcher responded by to his banners and challengers. If you're curious, you can read his response here. In regards to sexual situations, there is allusion to some of the characters who have experience sexual abuse in their childhood. There is nothing explicit or graphic in the book. I think this book is suitable for Grades 8 and up.

Curriculum Connection: Teachers interested in using Whale Talk in their classrooms should take a look at this great lesson plan starter by CCHS. The ALA and AASL (American Association of School Libraries) have also created a discussion guide for teachers to use.

If you like his book try: Black and White by Paul Volponi or Response by Paul Volponi

 I don't think book banners realize how counterproductive book banning/challenging really is. I know I'm more likely to pick up a book that I'm told not to read, aren't you? Lush by Natasha Friend was the sixth most challenged book last year. To view the top 10 frequently challenged books from 2010, go here. 

Description: Samantha has watched her father deteriorate. She remembers him drunk more than she remembers him when he is sober. Unable to cope with her father's alcoholism, Sam corresponds with an older student, sharing her family problems and asking for advice.

Review: Friend adeptly takes an issue and turns it into a believable, sensitive, character-driven story, with realistic dialogue in less than 200 pages. Samantha may have a perfect family externally, but internally they are struggling to keep her architect father's alcoholism a secret and pretending this problem is just a simple phase that will soon pass. Instead of addressing the issue, the family's balancing act of pretending enables Samantha's father's addiction and protecting their image is becoming more and more difficult.
  Sam is your ordinary junior high girl who is self conscious about her body, mostly because her chest size draws attraction and insults from others, and a very keen observer. She understands her father has a drinking problem and she is constantly albeit unsuccessfully trying to make her mother realize her father's problem. She tries to stay positive and afloat, but some days are harder than others. When she is unable to internalize her struggles and fears, Sam decides to seek advice and unload her burdens to an anonymous friend by leaving an autobiographical letter in a library book. Her anger and frustration are palpable as she struggles with her love for her dad. She doesn't believe her father when he promises to stop drinking because she knows that his promises to clean up never materialize. When Sam is chastised by her mother and grandmother for not believing in his ability to change, I was angry and sympathized with Sam because of the injustice of her difficult situation. When the adults in your life deny there is a problem, who do turn to?
  Lush could have turned into a very dark novel yet the author avoids this by infusing the plot with details of typical teen life, such as Sam's crush on an older boy and embarrassment at her developing body. Witty dialogue and smooth writing move the novel along at a fast pace with short chapters. Instead of telling how worse her father becomes, Friend successfully builds the tension as her father's illness takes a dangerous turn, which sets off a chain reaction as the family to confront their problem, Samantha's crush comes to a head, and her anonymous library pen pal is revealed.
  I had a big issue with the stereotypical portrayal of the school librarian. I also didn't like how Samantha didn't turn to any adult for help, but I can understand her hesitation. I liked the idea of the anonymous help, yet I would have liked to see this character developed more, especially since the help also has problems that were one brought up but never revisited again. Lush is a perceptive novel featuring a likable protagonist to whom readers will easily relate and the resources found at the back of the book are useful.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Why it was challenged/banned: Lush was judged by some 2010 readers to be "unsuited" for young readers. They also objected to the presence of "drugs, offensive language" and "sexually explicit" activity in the plot.

Words of Caution: Since alcoholism is the subject of the book, situations around drinking are present. There is even an underage drinking party scene that Samantha attends, however, this scene isn't filler but rather shows Samantha the dangers of bad choices make when they are influenced by alcohol. There is nothing beyond kissing in the book so I don't know where the sexually explicit charge is coming from. There is mild language that contains words as slut, whore, etc. Nothing that isn't found in a PG movie. I would recommend this book to Grades 7 and up.

If you like this book try: Inconvenient by Margie Gelbwasser or Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

  Graphic novels are, unfortunately, the easiest targets for challenges and banning. 'Objectionable' pictures are easy to spot and cause for alarm despite the fact that they serve an important part of the story. Due to this there is an organization called The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and its mission is to protect "the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals." Check out their website for more information. The comic anthology called Stuck in the Middle was targeted in 2009-2010.

Description: Seventeen short comics stories are written from a variety of graphic novelists who explore their middle school experiences.

Review: Do you remember junior high? Was it a pleasant or unpleasant experience for you? Seventeen graphic novelists come together to visualize the anguish and awkwardness of that age in this honest, sometimes hilarious and other times cringe-worthy compendium of cartoon black humor. Some of the writers are well known such as Daniel Clowes, whose comics were adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie, Ghost World. Though the stories became repetitious, the comics nevertheless hit the mark in terms of emotional content, whether the subject is making friends, embarrassing parents, or suffering through a first date. Kids going through adolescence or looking back in the past will easily relate to these stories. For the most part the stories didn't show great pain or great joy, but small vignettes of life at that age exposed for what they are: small, sad and occasionally moving. Everyone gets over middle school eventually, and perhaps the strongest essay in the book was a how-to guide to making it through those difficult years. One of my complaints is not getting a wide viewpoint. Each of the story offers a story of an outcast or someone desperately trying to fit in with the in-crowd. I wondered about those who were considered popular or even the bullies. It would be nice to get a balanced perspective.
  Though all the comics are in the same in color schemes, the black, white, and gray-tone, the artwork is very unique from one story to the other. Moving from short story to short story was a bit challenging because each  cartoonist has his/her own style. Sometimes I had to figure out the panel sequence before reading the comic. Some artists draw sparse art and text, while others have a dense text and intricate artwork.
  While reading this book I can see why some parents may be uncomfortable with this book. Yes it has some language and crude humor, but it does realistically depict how children talk and think at this age. Mature middle school readers will most likely go beyond the superficial level and understand the purpose of this book which is: we all go through this awkward age and get we get through it. You are not alone. I think Stuck in the Middle would be a great place for parents and tweens/teens to discuss important issues like bullying together.


Rating: 3 stars

Why the book was challenged/banned: In 2009-2010, this graphic novel was pulled Pulled from the school library collections at two Sioux Falls, S.Dak. public middle schools. Masturbation and marijuana show
up in passing, and several of the vignettes include words most parents wouldn’t want to hear from their children. Source: ALA

Words of Caution: Due to some language, an implied image of masturbation, some crude humor, but more importantly the context of the graphic novel, I think this book would be better appreciated by teens and adult readers. 

If you like this book try: Escape from "Special" by Miss Lasko-Gross or Girl Stories by Laura R. Weinstein

Image credit to Albany Poets

   Banned Book Week is upon us once again. This week is about celebrating your freedom to read. Starting September 25 through October 2nd, I will be pausing my current reading pile and participate in reading books that have either been challenged or banned.
 Do you know what the difference is between a challenged and banned book? Many people use the words  interchangeably, however, each word has a different meaning. A challenged book is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the actual removal of those materials.  Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view. This person/group wants to remove the material from the curriculum or library, which thereby restricts the access of others. 

  I will be picking 7 titles to read and review for each day and from each literary cannon: children's, YA, and adult. Not only will I be doing a review of the book, I will also include information as to where and why the book was banned/challenged. Here is my reading list as it stands:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
3. Lush by Natasha Friend
4. Whale Talk by Chris Cutcher
5. Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
6. Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age edited by Ariel Schrag
7. How to Get Suspended and Influence People by Adam Selzer

I participated in a similar reading challenge last year hosted by Steph Su at Steph Su Reads and Donna over at Bites. I read the following books for Banned Books Week Reading Challenge:

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Forever by Judy Blume
• Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Join me in the fight against censorship and celebrate the freedom to read. To get your booklist started, check out the helpful websites below:

• The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's (my alma mater!) Challenged Children's Book List. This list is divided up into age group, which is very helpful.
• Hit List for Young Adults 2 by Teri Lesesne and Rosemary Chance. Written for librarians combating censorship but also provides a list of 20 titles of YA books that have been challenged/banned. 
• The Illinois Library Association has a great bibliography every year noting the books challenged that year. This would be most help if you were looking for the most current challenged books.  
• ALA's Yearly Challenged/Banned Books, which lists books challenged, restricted, removed, or banned in that year as reported in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.