“My heart was racing as I asked, ‘What do you think about your books being banned from our library?’The room got very quite, and I tried very hard not to look at Principal Banazewski. Mr. Pilkey smiled. ‘Well, I wish they were on the shelves, where everybody could read them,’ he said. ‘I think it’s important that libraries be a place where you can find all kinds of books. Good ones, bad ones, funny ones, serious ones. Every person should be free to read whatever they want, whenever they want, and not have to explain to anyone else why we like it, or why we think it’s valuable. I hope you all get a chance to read my books someday.’” pg. 130-131 Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
All Amy Anne Ollinger wants is to run to the school library and check out her favorite book before homeroom. You see the school librarian has a rule, “… you can only renew a book two times in a row, and then it has to sit on the shelf for five whole school days before you can check it out again.” pg. 11 The rule is to make sure others get a chance to check out the book and enjoy it, because if Amy Anne had the option, she’d keep renewing From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, forever! Unfortunately, for Amy Anne, and any other student who wants to check out From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, or Matilda, or Harriet the Spy, or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, or Wait Till Helen Comes or pretty much any Goosebumps, Junie B. Jones or Captain Underpants book, they are out of luck. A group of parents have decided that some of the books in the school library aren’t appropriate for the students and have requested that the school board remove the books. Amy Anne wants to help get her favorite book, and all the others back, however she remains silent at the school board meeting when the ban is voted on, and now she feels like she’s lost her chance to speak out.
Don’t fear reader, all hope is not lost. The next morning on the school bus the beginnings of what will soon be known as the B.B.L.L (Banned Books Locker Library) is born, and within a week, everyone in the school is secretly reading the banned books. But when more and more books get banned, Amy Anne’s locker gets so full she has to carry all her school books around in her backpack. The chances of getting caught get higher and higher, until the day Principal Banazewski has the lock cut off Amy Anne’s locker and all is exposed.
Can Amy Anne and her friends find a way to convince the teachers, parents and the school board that the books they’ve banned should be available for everyone to read? Read Ban This Book by Alan Gratz to find out.
Author’s Note: “Every book banned by the school board in this novel is the title of a book that has been challenged or banned in an American library at least once in the last thirty years.” Check out a few of the challenged or banned books to see what you think. American Library Associations list of Frequently Challenged Children's Books