Edited by Ashley Hope Pérez
Illustrated by Debbie Fong
Contributors: Ashley Hope Pérez, Maia Kobabe, Robin Stevenson, Nikki Grimes, Elana K. Aronld, Bill Konigsberg, Brendan Kiely, MariNaomi, Traci Sorell, Isabel Quintero, Trung Le Nguyen, Kyle Lukoff, Debbie Fong, Padma Venkatraman, Kelly Jensen, and Ellen Hopkins
3 stars
A nice collection of pieces from a variety of authors covering topics of intellectual freedom, fighting censorship, and the importance of diverse representation.
The book includes a great mix of authors who all support the freedom to read. I love that their contributions take various forms, from comics to essays, poetry to short stories.
The book covers facts about books challenges and bans, how the freedom to read has influenced authors, and how to support intellectual freedom. It also includes advise and tips on topics such as making a Little Free Banned Books Library and starting your own Banned Book Club.
I started this as an audiobook then ended up checking out the physical book from the library as well.
I found the audiobook difficult to follow at times. There are many lists of books and tips that worked better for me in a visual format. There are also comics from Maia Kobabe, MariNaomi, Trung Le Nguyen, and Debbie Fong and Ashley Hope Pérez. The audio format does a good job telling the stories in the comics but you do miss out on the visuals with the audiobook.
The audiobook doesn’t include everything from the physical book. The section “Anthologies Book Banners Don’t Want You to Read” is not in the audiobook. The backmatter containing the author bios for Debbie Fong and Ashley Hope Pérez, The Statement on Land and Responsibility, and the Acknowledgements is also not included.
Overall, a nice way to learn about and get more involved in fighting censorship and book challenges. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I’d read the physical book instead of starting with the audio. I do think it’s a great place to start for young readers to learn about banned books, why they’re important, and ways to support everyone’s freedom to read.
A crucial topic and a good resource overall.