Not Another Banned Book

August 1, 2024
Seven Massachusetts middle schoolers team up to fight school censorship. For eighth grader Molly Claremont, Ms. Lewiston's Book Club is a place where she feels a reprieve from worries, such as conflict with her former best friend and grief over her brother's death. When Ms. Lewiston is put on administrative leave and her classroom library is gutted, Molly recruits the LBC members in schemes to right these wrongs by sneaking into book-banning meetings, attempting a school walkout, writing to a famous author, making a short video, and more. After these failed escapades, Molly wonders if she can even make a difference--and she distances herself from her family and friends, hiding her problems. Readers familiar with some of Levy's earlier works will recognize several book club members: Molly and Theo, who are white, Jax, a Black boy with two dads who has ADHD, and makeup artist and free spirit Alice, who is cued only as not white. Other LBC members include death-metal guitarist Mik, a Black boy who's gay, and white siblings and athletes Alex and Kait. They work together to show why broad, inclusive representation in books matters. Written in Molly's first-person present-tense voice, the often-humorous narrative is sprinkled with text messages and book references. Levy shows both the sometimes-scary complexities of middle school life and how stepping into someone else's story can lead to empathy. An ode to how books can be windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors. (author's note)(Fiction. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2024
Grades 5-8 Molly and her friends love going to their middle-school book club--they especially love the teacher that runs it. Naturally, when they find out both their favorite books and their beloved teacher are gone, they decide to do whatever it takes to get it all back. Luckily, their teacher comes back to school . . . but their books do not. Meanwhile, Molly is being forced to move out of her childhood home, the only place her recently deceased brother ever lived. Sometimes Molly's struggle with her family life seems to overtake the plot of book challenges. Nevertheless, Levy has packed her book with a wealth of good information in a way that might help middle schoolers digest more easily what's happening politically. Ultimately, this is a leisurely paced read with lots of emotion that, gratefully, ends happily. For proud middle-school book nerds and fans of Kate Klise's Don't Check Out This Book.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.