All About Middle Grade Review: Ban This Book

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, August 29, 2017. 256 pages. Published by Starscape. Source: Publisher for review consideration.

An inspiring tale of a fourth-grader who fights back when her favorite book is banned from the school library--by starting her own illegal locker library!

It all started the day Amy Anne Ollinger tried to check out her favorite book in the whole world, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, from the school library. That's when Mrs. Jones, the librarian, told her the bad news: her favorite book was banned! All because a classmate's mom thought the book wasn't appropriate for kids to read.

Amy Anne decides to fight back by starting a secret banned books library out of her locker. Soon, she finds herself on the front line of an unexpected battle over book banning, censorship, and who has the right to decide what she and her fellow students can read.

First Sentence

It all started the day my favorite book went missing from the library.

Okay, so more than the book talking about book censorship, what attracted me to reading Ban This Book was that I was sure that Alan Gratz, one of my favorite middle-grade authors, would be able to write a truly great book upon this topic. I was not disappointed in this thought as he delivered a remarkable great read. Of which I shall endeavor to talk about more in-depth.

• When I first learned about Ban This Book I was a little concerned that it would turn into a diatribe given the topic. But then again, I was not too worried considering that I've read a decent number of Alan Gratz books. I thought he handled the topic of banned books with a fair hand; it was well balanced with the story of a girl, Amy Anne, who is fighting not only for her favorite book but for all the books, and those who want to read them. 

•  One of the best aspects of this book was the development of Amy Anne's character. When the book first begins, she is a, well, she's a bit of a softy who doesn't always say what is on her mind. Sure, sometimes it can be better to leave harsh words unsaid, but there's also a time to speak up for yourself, too. It was interesting to see her development because it stemmed from her wanting to protect her beloved book from being removed from the school library system. I don't want to give too much away here, but so much of what happened helped her to not bottle her emotions up so much. 

• So, banned books...what a contentious topic for a book. I'll be entirely honest here, I really liked how you got to see, in snippets, both sides to the story of why one student's mom started her crusade to have books pulled from the shelves and Amy Anne's fight to bring them back. It gave the story such balance to be able to see both sides of the debate played out. Sure there were some bitter moments, like when all looked lost, but there were glimmers of understanding the other's point-of-view as both sides went toe-to-toe for what they thought was best. Personally, I really like it when an author can pull off writing about a hot issue topic without resorting to low-blows; and one that can make the argument for both sides in a plausible way. 

• As you have likely noticed, I rather enjoyed the topic and the way the story played out. I think it took me two hours to read it as the writing and plot pulled me in from the beginning. It was just one of those books that are so enjoyable that you do not want to set it down. 

Final Verdict: Ban This Book- A quick paced book that deftly balances character growth and fighting for what you believe in.

Ban This Book earns

A copy of this book was received for review consideration. All thoughts are my own.