I enjoyed the story line of students banning together to read, share and talk about banned books. I loved how they worked together to put a stop to the unreasonable banning of books. I felt the characters were not acting as 4th graders but more like middle schoolers.

After the school board decides to remove several books from the school's library without following the proper procedures, book-loving fourth grader Amy Anne starts the Banned Book Locker Library. The book seems designed to appeal to anyone who values intellectual freedom, and the story is entertaining and engaging.

Amy Anne Ollinger is a fourth-grader who loves to read. Her favorite book is <em>From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler</em>, which she reads over and over again. But when she stops in the school library to check the book out and it's not on the shelf she has a moment of panic, but assumes it's been checked out by someone else. The librarian tells her that it will not be returning to the shelf anytime soon as it has been 'challenged' (or essentially pulled, or banned) from the library. And thus Amy Anne begins a crusade, first to make the banned books available to her peers through a library locker system, and then an unusual means to show the school board how silly it is to ban books.

Author Alan Gratz has written a nice early reader adventure story that touches on a topic fairly important to most readers - the subject of banning books. And along the way we get reminded not to judge people and not to blame students for the actions of their parents.

The plot is generally pretty straight forward and simple, which is ideal for the target reader, though sometimes it is so simple that it rather ignores obvious facts (major plot point ... if the school already has a policy for dealing with books that someone wishes to remove from the school library, why do they completely ignore their own policy?) I also have a little trouble with the stern-ness, bordering on cruel, in which the principal is portrayed. I realize that this is intended for children and that many may actually fear their principal, but it wasn't necessary, we already had a 'villain,' and a sympathetic-but-hands-tied administrator may have been more accurate and still allowed for all the action.

The book reads like a middle school novel even though it's set a few years younger than that.

Still, the book was easy to read, moved swiftly and had a central character who was someone the reader could relate to. It was an enjoyable read.

Looking for a good book? <em>Ban This Book</em> by Alan Gratz is a delightful book for kids about how to fight back when adults get carried away in 'protecting' children from harmful literature.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Being a person who intentionally reads banned books, I like reading books about banned books too. I think it's a great idea to introduce the subject of banned books to younger readers and let them realize what a harmful thing it is to ban a book from any library.

This book was a total delight. I loved the character development. The character really sees a withdrawn girl blossom and grow in a believable way. I loved that all the books and authors referenced were real one readers will recognize and/or seek out. The book even does a lovely job of showing the antagonist in a nuanced light. Really delightful MG read that will leave readers eager to seek out more books and, hopefully, to take a stand for what's right.

My Review: I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. When I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it. I like how it uses books that have actually been banned from various libraries over the years and it shows how quickly banning of books can escalate. Even though I am an adult I really connected with Amy Anne, she reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age. This book shows us the young reader's point of view when favorite books are removed from library shelves and how passionate those young readers can be about those books. It is a pretty powerful book on this sometimes controversial subject and it is done so well, it presents both arguments in a way that you can see where each side comes from when approaching the subject. All in all the sentiment that 'only parents should be able to tell you what you can and can't read' comes across very clearly. Definitely a book to read and to spark conversations.

We meet Amy Anne, an elementary bibliophile. Amy Anne is one of three kids living in a tiny house with her parents and dogs. She loves to read but struggles to find quiet time at home to enjoy her books. One of the ways she squeezes in more quality time for reading is by staying late at school and hanging out in the school library (but, she lies to her parents and tells them she is over-active in extracurricular activities). While in the library so often, Amy Anne befriends the school librarian, who shares many wonderful books with her. Amy Anne's favorite book is From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. Amy Anne loves this book so much, she has checked it out 5 times from the library. In order to allow other children to read popular books, the librarian has decided that students must wait a week to recheck a book.

One day, Amy Anne goes to the library after school specifically to check out her favorite book - it's been a week, and if it is on the shelf, she gets it again. She cannot wait to read the book again. But today, the book is gone! She runs to Mrs. Jones' surprised the book has been checked out. Mrs. Jones, the librarian, tells her that the book has been "banned" and removed from the school library. Apparently, one parent has decided many books are inappropriate for elementary students and went to the school board to have them banned. Amy Anne cannot believe her ears! Mrs. Jones asks Amy Anne if she will come to the school board meeting and support her right to read. She agrees.

Amy Anne tells her father the story and he purchases her favorite book for her. The next day at school, while Amy Anne is recounting these stories to her friends, they decide to create a library out of their locker - The Banned Books Locker Library (BBLL). Amy Anne feels this is wrong, but also feels she must stand up for students' rights to read. The BBLL is a big hit and soon, students are trading books, donating books, and talking non-stop about books. The only problem, they are only interested in the banned books. This secret is sure to get out. Eventually, the kids do get caught. They also take their argument to the school board. Who will win this battle over books?

What I love most about this book is Amy Anne's spirit. She is willing to break the rules for a good cause. I also loved seeing the kids get so involved with reading, even though they were breaking the "rules". This is often the consequence of banned books. Particularly, in this case. A parent was upset and went over the rules of the school, resulting in severe consequences.

In this book, both kids and adults discuss the dangers of banning books, as well as reasons this happens. Both also brainstorm ways to help children make good reading choices, that are appropriate to them. One example in Ban This Book includes a book about puberty. This is one of the banned books and many of the girls want to read it and discuss it. Amy Anne checks this book out from the BBLL, but decides after skimming a few pages, that this book isn't for her right now. This is a powerful message about choice - kids can decide what is too mature for them and what they are prepared to read.

This is a book I would recommend to elementary readers, that would bring up some great topics, and middle level readers. The writing is engaging and fun. I also recommend this book to adults who work with or read to children.

Finally, this book is filled with reading recommendations. Alan Gratz used the list of books compiled by the American Library Association to endorse books that have been challenged in the past few decades. Banned Books Week starts on September 24th and is a great time to reacquaint with books that are challenged.

BAN THIS BOOK by Alan Gratz is intended for younger readers (grades 3 to 6), but I absolutely wanted to include a review here since it does a superb job of addressing censorship in school libraries. I read it in one sitting and highly recommend it. Introvert and fourth grader Amy Anne Ollinger finds her voice and the courage to stand up for reading when a parent begins a campaign to ban an ever increasing list of books. Amy Anne creates the B.B.L.L. (Banned Books Locker Library) and is joined by her classmates in an inspirational show of unity that could lead middle school readers to take action in their own communities. In many ways, BAN THIS BOOK is reminiscent of the award winning Frindle by Andrew Clements and I think young readers will be equally captivated. One of the most fun aspects was the frequent reference to favorite titles like From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – BAN THIS BOOK will also introduce young readers to many worthwhile titles. Excellent!

A book about books is almost guaranteed to get my attention, but when the book in question is about a young girl standing up to censorship in her grade school library, that book makes its way a lot higher on my list pretty darn quick.

Amy Anne, the nine year old protagonist of the story, loves reading. It gives her a refuge from a hectic home life where she has two younger sisters that get into everything and, in her mind, get away with everything. In order to find some peace and quiet, she stays late after school to read in the library, making friends with Mrs. Jones the librarian and becoming familiar with the library’s inventory. One book in particular keeps her coming back to check out as many times as she can and, when one day it has been removed because a single parent went over the head of the librarian to have the school board remove it, Amy Anne finds herself starting a journey that will bring her out of her shell and find her standing up for the rights of her fellow students.

Amy Anne has a lot of ideas in her head about how to be a better person: about how to stand up for herself in a friendship, at home when one of her sister's gets away with an unfair attitude, and, most importantly, about speaking at the school board meeting regarding the banning of her favorite book from the elementary school library. It’s just incredibly difficult to stand up for what you believe in when you feel like you don’t have a voice. As a child this feeling must be multiplied exponentially because they are all the time being told what to do, what’s best for them, what’s right, and who is right. Amy Anne feels this particularly at home when she feels like her parents favor her sisters and at school when she’s faced with rules that feel wrong. What is she supposed to do: listen to rules that feel wrong or do what’s right?

She and her friends start a small operation: the Banned Books Locker Library, finding and then lending out copies of the original banned book (From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg) as well titles that Mrs. Spencer, the parent behind all this censorship, keeps taking out of the library because she deems them inappropriate.

Banning books like Mrs. Spencer wants, without discussing them with her child or having other parents make an informed decision, doesn't work and the author makes it clear why in conversation the morning after the first school board meeting when Amy Anne is on the bus.

“Why do you guys care so much?” Danny asked. “Are these books really good or something?”

“They have to be,” Rebecca told him. “Why else do you think they banned them?”
If you hide something from a kid or tell them not to do it without talking to them about it, odds are they'll be all the more interested in testing it out or discovering the forbidden for themselves.

"Good books shouldn’t be hidden away. They should be read by as many people as many times as possible."
One of Mrs. Spencer's problems is that she is deciding to ban these books even though she's never read them herself. She's going by a limited number of sources to decide what is good for other people's children, which is not her right.

"I was lucky. My parents would buy me any book I wanted if I asked them to. But not everybody’s parents would do that. Not everybody’s parents could do that. That’s what libraries were for: to make sure that everybody had the same access to the same books everyone else did."
Ban This Book makes a lot of good points, not only about censorship and how it is ineffectual, but also about libraries and their importance in a community. Libraries serve the community at large, not a single person or even a small party of people. They provide books and resources for everyone, regardless of their income, making them vital for people like Amy Anne’s classmates who can’t afford to buy all the books they want from a store.

“Look, the point is, once you ban one book, somebody, somewhere, can find a reason to ban every book,” I said.
Censoring is also a huge slippery slope because once one thing gets banned, it opens up the door to other books to be taken away from the people that want or need them. It can be difficult at times because, even though I consider myself quite open minded, there are books I disagree with enormously, but how can I consider myself truly anti-censorship if there are books that I would keep from people? I may dislike them, I may hate the stories they tell or disagree with the message/political leanings of the author, but I can’t tell someone else what they can or cannot read. All I can do is voice my opinion, respectfully, and hope others hear me out.

"And that was it, wasn’t it? All the book challenges, the real ones, were because one person saw a book in a very different way than somebody else. Which was fine. Everybody had the right to interpret any book any way they wanted to. What they couldn’t do then was tell everybody else their interpretation was the only interpretation."
Reading about Amy Anne and her friends learning how to stand up for themselves and their rights, finding out ways to protect those rights when they're threatened, was a great time. The writing style got the subtle nuances of nerves, such as when Amy Anne is having difficult making herself heard at home and school, and it encouraged a variety of characters, such as Rebecca, the future lawyer who had some great ideas about the setup of the B.B.L.L., and Jeffrey, a sci-fi geek who has to deal with sudden death of his grandmother and copes with the help of a book from Amy Anne's library (Bridge to Terabithia).

Alan Gratz wrote a great story about learning when to stand up to the things you know are wrong and when rules may need to be followed (such as Amy Anne's parents tabling The Hunger Games until the sixth grade). Ban This Book features over a dozen titles, each and every one of which has been banned or challenged somewhere in the U.S. sometime in the last 30 years. I think the book itself will not only be a good time, but will lead to more amazing reading experiences.

I received a copy of BAN THIS BOOK from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Think of your favorite book of all time. Picture where it is ...at the library, your bookshelf, or at a bookstore. You find comfort knowing that your favorite book is accessible to you at anytime. How would you feel if all of a sudden, without warning, your book was banned? You no longer can simply go get it if you want to reread it. All of this because one person thought your favorite book was inappropriate for you and everyone else to read.

Amy Anne Ollinger knows exactly how this feels because her favorite book, FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER, has been removed from her school library. One parent has decided that this book is not appropriate for third-sixth graders to read. How can this be possible? What is she going to do now? Amy decides that she must take matters into her own hands when the school board bans more books. Read BAN THIS BOOK to see what Amy Anne Ollinger and her friends do when censorship runs rampant through their school.

Banning books is not new. In fact, it has been around since the first written words. All sorts of books, from classics to graphic novels are banned yearly all over the United States. Someone gets his/her panties in a wad and thinks he/she knows what everyone should and shouldn’t read. I personally am totally against censorship in books. I believe the only person allowed to tell me what to read is me. I also think the parents should have the only say in what their child reads.

I really liked BAN THIS BOOK because the world needs young heroes to stand up for what is right. Even though she is shy, Amy Ann takes on the system in very inventive ways. She also enlists the help of her friends to fight their mutual enemy. None of the children are afraid of the consequences and do some very brave things. They realize what is happening to their school and will not allow it.

This book would be a great classroom read for Banned Book Week September 24-30, 2017. It would lead to some very interesting conversations about freedom of speech and censorship. The older the students, the more deep the conversation. With younger students, it would be a prime opportunity to instill a strong belief in freedom of speech. Some possible activities with the book might include:

“Ban” some of the students’ favorite books for ridiculous reasons and brainstorm possible ways the students can fight the ban.

Students write letters to the school board explaining why a book should not be taken from the school’s library.

Students research past banned books and the reasons they were banned.

Set up a banned book display with the reasons the booms were taken from shelves.

Students can make Banned Book Week awareness posters.

I really believe this book is an excellent choice for middle school students They will love the action, the fact that students stand up against the system, and it doesn’t matter how small or quiet you are, you can make a difference at your school.

A wonderful tale about a little girl's fight to stop books from being banned in her school. The clever tale about the perils of censorship, the story was a hit for me because of the growth of the main character from a shy, mousy girl to one who isn't afraid to stand up for what is right.

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

Loved this very much! A must-read for any book-lover (who isn't?) or librarian. I will certainly be recommending it to some of my bookworm pupils and reading some extracts in class.

I sat on my bed surrounded by books.

I stacked them by size, then stacked them alphabetically, then stacked them by books I'd read and books I hadn't read. I loved the weight of them, the feel of them, especially the hardback books with the clear plastic coating that crinkled and crackled as you opened the book. Some of them were old - older even that I was. Some of them were brand new.

And all of them had been banned.

It was a treasure trove, these stacks, and suddenly I had the idea that I was Smaug the dragon sitting on my piles of gold and jewels, and I would do anything to keep that hobbit and those dwarves from taking them back.

How had I not seen books as treasure before? I loved books. I couldn't imagine living without them. But I had never seen each book as such a valuable thing before. Even the books I wasn't interested in reading were like gold. It didn't matter what was inside them. One man's junk was another man's treasure, as my grandmother said.

In this book we meet Amy Anne Ollinger, long-suffering eldest daughter in a family where she keeps her thoughts to herself and her younger sisters rule the roost. He sanctuary is the school library where she retreats every day to read her way through everything on the shelves. Things start to change when she wants to check out her favourite book. The school library has a rule that you can renew a book no more than twice before it must be returned, after which it must spend 5 days on the shelf before you can borrow it again. Amy Anne has waited impatiently to borrow her favourite book...but when she tries to borrow it, it is gone, banned by an active parent member of the PTA who has objected to the themes in the book.

So starts Amy Anne's journey to revolution.

"Well-behaved women seldom make history, " Mrs Jones said with a smile. "Consider this your first taste of behaving badly in the name of what's right."

She starts with her favourite book which her father buys her, then adds books gathered from other pupils, purchased from the shop and 'borrowed' from the library's shelves of withdrawn stock. Before long the B.B.L.L. (Banned Books Locker Library) is born and an underground trade in the banned books sweeps through the school.

And that's when I remembered why I started the B.B.L.L. in the first place. Good books shouldn't be hidden away. They should be read by as many people as many times as possible. But that wasn't exactly true. It wasn't just good books that shouldn't be hidden away. It was all books. Any books. It didn't matter what they were about, or whether I liked them, or Mrs Spencer liked them, or the school board liked them.

I was lucky. My parents would buy me any book I wanted if I asked them to. But not everybody's parents would do that. Not everybody's parents could do that. That's what libraries were for: to make sure that everybody had the same access to the same books everyone else did. That's why I started the Banned Books Locker Library, and that was why I was going to get every last book Mrs. Spencer had banned.

This was a fantastic book, with many positive messages about the importance of free choice, expressing your feelings and challenging decisions when you think they are wrong. Every book listed in this book is one about which someone has raised an objection in real-life. Harry Potter? Devil worship. Matilda? Disrespecting adult authority. And so on.

All the book challenges, the real ones, were because one person saw a book in a very different way that somebody else. Which was fine. Everybody had the right to interpret any book in any way they wanted to. What they couldn't do then was tell everybody else their interpretation was the only interpretation.

What I liked: Everything - I couldn't find fault with this! I loved the positive messages about the power of reading and freedom of thought and speech. I loved the main character who was realistic, brave and faced her challenges briefly. I loved how well the other characters were fleshed out, even the 'baddie' who really had the children's best interests at heart.

Even better if: I already had some hard copies so I could distribute them around my school - some in the school library and one in each book corner!

How you could use it in your classroom: Read the opening chapter and discuss the importance of reading and who chooses what we read. Discuss books which may be controversial. Discuss how people have different opinions and that is okay and every opinion is valid, even if it disagrees with yours. Discuss how the protagonist chose to challenge a decision she thought was wrong. Whatever you do, please do read this with your class!

Finally, a quote from the book from Mrs Jones (the amazing librarian) specifically for teachers:

"It's our job as educators to expose our children to as many different kinds of books and as many different points of view as possible. That means letting them read books that are too easy for them, or too hard for them. That means letting them read books which challenge them, or do nothing but entertain them. And yes, it means letting students read books with things in them we might disagree with and letting them make up their own mind about things, which is downright scary sometimes. But that's what good education is all about."

A really super book with a truly important message about the need for freedom to read books. We think that we have freedom of choice but in fact that is not always the case and particularly in America it is easy to object to the content of books in both school and public libraries. This tells the story of what happens when some favourite books are banned in the school library and how the pupils challenge the system.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this book. I highlighted so many passages! Amy Anne is my new favorite champion of the First Amendment. I'm really going to talk this up closer to September and Banned Books Week but I anticipate it will be in hot demand even without my endorsement

My favorite thing was the banned books themselves. The titles are there for any kid to track down, a veritable bibliography hiding in plain sight. As the author's note states, all the books that are banned in this book have actually been challenged or banned recently in America. I hope this information, coupled with Amy Anne and the BBLL's enjoyment of reading these books in the story will lead readers to check out these other books and explore perspectives and stories they might never have found on their own..

Gratz captures the confusion around book banning in our communities. He presents real characters and a realistic plot that will resonate with many young readers.

After your favorite book is banned what do you do? Form a banned book library of course! This book was very interesting from beginning until the end. The character development was genuine and the setting very realistic. Alan Gratz captured the essence of family life for the oldest sibling. I could definitely relate. I would recommend this book to be added into any classroom from 4th grade through middle school. Intermediate age children will love this story!

“Ban this book” strikes fear in librarians and authors everywhere. Okay not quite, but it does make us shake our heads. We, librarians, do not have an infinite amount of money so we are very careful when choosing what books to purchase. We read reviews, we look at our audience and many of us read Advance Reader Copiers when we get our hands on them.
“Ban this book” is a great introduction to students and parents on the how just one person can change things. An influential parent decides that she has the right to decide what books should or should not be in her kid’s local elementary school library. The board quickly took her word and ordered that the books should be removed immediately as they were a “danger” to the students. By doing this, not only did the board not follow their own rules, but created a very slippery slope. Once they opened that door, the gave leeway for the mother and her cohorts to remove more books. Instead of relying on a trained professional, they let those who admit they “never read the book” make that decision.
Student and avid reader, Amy Anne, decided she was going to read all the books on the list. She also decided to post the lists of banned books on her locker which led others to want to read them. The quiet, shy “little mouse” became a quiet activist.
Every student and parent should read this book to understand the dangers of banning books. Each parent has the right to ask for materials to be reconsidered and to select the materials that THEIR child can read. Thank you to Netgalley for a e-galley for an honest opinion.

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.

Amy Anne just wants to read her books. She's not picky, but she does have a favorite, one that she checks out, renews twice and then has to return for five interminable days so that "another student can get the chance to read it" (this according to the awesome school librarian, Dr. Jones).

One day she goes to pick up her favorite book, and discovers that it's been banned from the library by an uptight parent. Not only has From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler been banned, but so have 11 other books, all because they are "inappropriate" for children. Realizing that this decision is wrong, Amy Anne begins gathering up the banned books and running a small library out of her locker—right under the noses of the administration!

I absolutely loved this book. In this era of banning and outlawing books because it "offends" one person or group, and removing it from a library based on the opinion of one parent, it's important to remember Dr. Jones' mantra, "Nobody has the right to tell you what books you can and can't read. Except your parents."

That's right folks. The only right you have to ban books is for your own children. Scared they might pick up something in the library they shouldn't? Go to the library with them. Have open and honest talks with your kids. And above all, trust the college educated and professionally trained school library to select age-appropriate books.

Amy Anne is an inspiring protagonist, as is her really smart, litigating best friend Rebecca, and the other students in this book. She learns about the First Amendment and the importance of the right for books to be free and available to all.

FYI, I think that this book would be an appropriate read for elementary students. But that's for you parents to decide.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Excellent tale about a shy student who comes into her own when her favourite book is banned from the school library

A school in America. A student who never speaks her mind. Amy Anne lives in a world of books, with a chaotic home life of sisters and no space, she pretends to stay at school for clubs so she can have a little time to herself with a book. The school library is her refuge, books her escape.

Then a parent complains about her favourite book and a few others, and they are taken from the shelves. Can Amy Anne speak up? The cull continues... and she and her friends decide to take action.

As much a story about a shy girl's blossoming into a confident adolescent as it is about book banning, this was a well-written story of young people standing up for what they believe in. Amy Anne is a convincing book lover, with a family that feel real.

I loved the plot, it made me angry, I felt uplifted that children today might just care for books in the same way that I do. Some of the titles may not be familiar to UK readers, they are American titles and authors but the main story will still resonate.

Would make a cracking little film. A great choice for readers aged 8-12, it's not a long read, and would make for some good book club discussions.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance e-copy.