Ban This Book

Amy Anne is a true bibliophile; she has even told her parents that she's part of various after school clubs so that she can stay longer at the school library and read. One day she discovers that her favorite book has been removed from the shelf because a parent thinks it is not appropriate for an elementary school. Before she knows it, dozens more books are being removed, and the librarian is powerless to stop it. Amy Anne gets her hands on as many of these books as possible and starts a library in her locker, but like most secrets, this one doesn't stay hidden for long.

As a librarian, I obviously have a vested interest in the freedom of information. I love that I have books on my shelves for all kinds of people. I enjoyed Amy Anne's story like I enjoyed Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library - the literary references were fantastic. The story itself is a fairly standard "middle grade girl develops backbone, talks about her problems, and gets them solved" story a la the afterschool specials I used to watch. And it's just as preachy as an afterschool special, which caused me to roll my eyes a few times. But it's a cute story nonetheless, and I think it would appeal to those kids who have read every single book on the shelf twice and are eagerly awaiting something new.

Recommended for: middle grade
Red Flags: lots of challenged books are mentioned, along with the reasons for their challenges
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library; The Day They Burned the Books; Book Scavenger

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purposes of review.