When Wilson High Telegraph editor Jamie Crawford writes an opinion piece in support of the new sex-ed curriculum, which includes making condoms available to high school students, she has no idea that a huge controversy is brewing. Lisa Buel, a school board member, is trying to get rid of the health program, which she considers morally flawed, from its textbooks to its recommendations for outside reading. The newspaper staff find themselves in the center of the storm, and things are complicated by the fact that Jamie is in the process of coming to terms with being gay, and her best friend, Terry, also gay, has fallen in love with a boy whose parents are anti-homosexual. As Jamie's and Terry's sexual orientation becomes more obvious to other students, it looks as if the paper they're fighting to keep alive and honest is going to be taken away from them. Nancy Garden has depicted a contemporary battleground in a novel that probes deep into issues of censorship, prejudice, and ethics.

I thought it was a nice book. I liked the journalism aspect.

I did not care for this book. After reading my free Net Galley arc, I realized the book was written years ago. It read like a book that was written before a lot of changes in the world.

This book was enjoyable, but it didn't capture my attention the same way that Annie on My Mind did. Would still recommend for fans of Garden's writing though.

There are better, newer versions of this story out there now. It's aged a bit.

I was unable to read this before the archive date and will not have another chance to review it.

While some may think the book is "dated" since it was published in the '90s, it's an important piece of YA lit. The writing style makes you realize how far teen lit has come since then, but the content is still strikingly relevant. This book, along with a more contemporary title, would make for a great book discussion comparing the two.

The Year They Burned the Books killed me a little bit. I loved it a lot in many, many ways, but at times it was just as aggravating as it was heart-wrenching. 

I felt that, on many levels, this book encapsulates what it feels like to be a part of the LGBTQIA+ community right now, given the current state of the US political scene (which I won't get into here), even though this book technically takes place a few years in the past, before same-sex marriage had been legalized across all states. While Jamie struggles to come to terms with her own sexuality, her integrity as a journalist is threatened by outside forces-- a school board election puts an aggressive conservative in charge, and she wants to throw out positive information surrounding safe sex and contraception, as well as any and all positive takes on homosexuality. Knowing that they're being protected by an important member of the community, more and more people who share these beliefs feel emboldened to make their presence known, and Jamie's pro-sex-education editorial at the beginning of the book puts her directly in the line of fire. As time passes, Jamie is turned on by an increasing number of her classmates-- including her former best friend, Nomi. This leaves Jamie to battle her own internal conflicts while also having to fight to stop the fast march her small East Coast town starts taking towards a hate-filled and bigoted future.

This outstanding pressure is expressed well throughout the book and the majority of the narrative is high-strung and tense, just as Jamie is. I think that's what I liked the most about The Year They Burned The Books.

There were a few things I wasn't such a fan of, though, like the continuous use of homophobic slurs throughout the Entirety of the book. At first, I was willing to let it slide, because the characters that were using them were meant to showcase rampant homophobia in a community, but then it got a little excessive. I felt like I couldn't turn a page or two without seeing some kind of slur, and even in the penultimate pages, where things are supposed to be taking this upswing, slurs are thrown out by the main characters themselves, which I guess was meant to be some "we're taking back that word" overarching statement, but that fails to have any strength to it when it was being used just as aggressively as the antagonistic characters had used it. Instead of it being a "this is our term to use", it felt more like "that negative thing you called us? we are that". There was no ownage of the word, I guess? I don't know, I was mostly just tired of seeing it on the page by the end of the book.

And speaking of the end, I think it came way too fast. What I thought would be the climax-- the actual book burning-- came on a lot later than I thought it would, and the book seemed to be at its bleakest point within the final pages, only to have a massive upheaval by way of a time skip in the last chapter. Instead of finally having a sense of relief and happiness for the characters at the end, I was still reeling from arguably the worst turn of events happening a few pages before. The happy moment also only lasts a few pages, like a placating "here, by the way, all the characters turn out fine. the end" sort of business.

I could keep going, on both the positive and negative sides of this book, but I think that anything past this point would just be me nitpicking my Hot Takes instead of offering my constructive opinion, so I'll leave it here.

DNF @ 33%

Trigger Warnings - Homomisa, Homomisic slurs, suicidal thoughts.

This book is too hard for me to read. There’s so much homomisa that the thoughts of reading it make me feel sick.

I understand Nancy Garden wrote this book to show what it was like for LGBT+ teenagers in the 1980’s and the fact that we had to go through this shit at all is horrendous.

Even though I want to see Jamie over come the haters and accept herself I cannot read this without feeling anxious and ill.

I never should have requested this book without reading reviews first.

Thank you netgalley & publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review

I read Nancy Garden's <i>Annie On My Mind</i> about a year ago and really loved it, so when this re-release of another of her books popped up on Netgalley, I requested it immediately. This was originally released in 1999, and sadly I think this book should maybe be left in the past.

On a base level, I don't think this was well written. It was disastrously bad at telling over showing, to the point that for a while at the beginning I was considering just DNF-ing and moving on. Despite the fact that the characters in this book are mostly high school seniors (so between 17 and 18 years old) they were written more like 14-year-olds. Yes, the subjects they were dealing with were big, mature ones, but the characters themselves reacted to things far below their age level and it was frustrating. The dialogue was really stilted and unnatural. Overall, on just writing alone, I don't think this book excelled.

But I do have a deeper issue with the story and how it ended. Without spoiling specific details, there is a big push for "love the sinner, hate the sin" ideology and I refuse to accept stories that treat this as acceptable. There is no loving the "sinner" if you hate who they are because there is no sin to hate. If you don't like that a person is gay, you are homophobic. If you say you try to love that person despite their gayness, then you are a homophobe. It is that simple.

Almost the entire conclusion of this book was about how others can deal with and accept the gayness of their friends or loved ones by trying to love them in spite of it. It's a deeply harmful message to send, and I was upset by it. My gayness is not a choice, and it is not a part of me you can remove from the rest and choose to disapprove of. It is an essential part of who I am and if you don't like it, you're a toxic person. And also *ding ding ding* a homophobe! Congrats on that. I was upset by the fact that these were the satisfying conclusions characters were reaching by the end of the story. The big takeaway is that everyone can disagree and still have a healthy debate.

Well, my identity is not a debate. And I won't have a civil conversation about it with someone who doesn't like it.

But moving on from that, I think that anyone who is still considering going into this book should go in with huge warnings. This is a book about queer teens written in the 1990s, and it does not shy away from the homophobia or intense bullying they face. The homophobic slurs were constant to the point of being overwhelming. It isn't easy at almost any step of the way. This is not a mark against the book, just a warning for those who are considering reading it. If you have a hard time reading about characters dealing with intense homophobia, I would steer clear. Also there is a LOT of religious morality happening here, which did feel incredibly relevant (a character starts a committee to get the moral standards of the community back to how it used to be in the good old days) but is another thing to be aware of going in.

There is also a character who is suicidal for a portion of this book. I don't feel that his mental well-being was considered nearly enough, and I was left very concerned with the book's perspective on depression.

Finally, I would like to say that I thought this book did do a fair job of depicting questioning teens in a way I hadn't seen in a while. Jamie and her friend Terry both begin this book, as they describe it, as "Maybes" - maybe gay, maybe straight. No, they do not have an in-between option (eyyy bisexuality), but that's a whole other issue I'm not going to get into. They do go through a full process in the book of reconciling their "Maybes" as more of a definitely. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to questioning teens - just due to the overwhelming homophobia and bullying - I appreciated the focus questioning as part of the coming out process.

Overall, I had too many issues with this book to consider giving it any higher than a 2/5. I think it is incredibly dated, full of harmful messages, and ultimately poorly written.

Okay so I have a few issues with this book.
1) When main character, Jamie, is talking to her parents the author refers to them (in Jamie's mind) as Mr. Crawford and Mrs. Crawford instead of Mom and Dad.
2) This is not actually about book burning but it is about censorship.
3) It deals with A LOT of controversy, such as LGBT issues and condom distribution.
4) IT IS SO OUTDATED.

I understand the need for a book like this, especially in the LGBT community.
I'm sure in 1999 (when this book was published) it was better suited for that audience, but I feel as a whole our outlook has changed quite a bit, whether that be better or worse, I'm not sure.

The basis of the book is a school newspaper editorial written in response to the school nurses distributing condoms to students on Friday in an attempt to promote safer sex. The editorial was pro-condom, whereas the op-ed was supposed to counteract the editorial. However, the op-ed was never written and caused quite a stir in the new school committee.
This created an excuse for school board member, Lisa Buel, to create a group through her church called Families for Traditional Values (FTV), which is against basically EVERYTHING. This group doesn't agree with the condom distribution, the sex education curriculum, or homosexuality.
The school paper catches wind and begins trying to counteract FTV with a renegade newspaper, one that cannot be shut down if the school doesn't agree with what they are publishing.
There is so much drama between the two parties (FTV and the school paper committee).

This book kind of irked me, far more than it probably should have.
I understand the need for more LGBT books.
I understand the need to stop censorship.
I understand what this book was trying to do, but it was so extreme.
It really bothered me, and I apologize to anyone who disagrees with me.
I tried to keep my mind as open as possible, but I just could not handle it.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy of The Year They Burned the Books

After receiving this book on NetGalley, I was surprised to see that it was originally published in 1999. The story is still relevant today, so I can see why it was rereleased.

I loved the story. Even though it takes place in the 90s, it seems very contemporary. The only difference is they use typewriters to write their school articles and comment that certain people have a printer and computer at home.

Jamie was a great character. Jamie and her best friend Terry call themselves “Maybes” because they think they might be gay but they aren’t sure. Both of them have to come to terms with their sexuality, and have to become confident enough to share their true selves.

Though Jamie and Terry are learning how to express themselves, other characters, such as Ernie, hide behind what they think others want them to be like, instead of being themselves. This was sad but it’s something that still happens today.

The school newspaper was a great way for the characters to express their feelings. There was a lot of drama in the newspaper team that kept the story exciting.

I really enjoyed this story. Though it is almost 20 years old, it is still so relevant today!

A very timely YA novel. Explores the issues of censorship and prejudice well. Would recommend all those who like socially conscious ya novels to get in on the action!

When this book was first published, I have no doubt that it was groundbreaking. It discusses censorship, prejudice and ethics. With this rerelease, the reception isn't as wowing as then but it's still an impressive read. And that's because it's still relevant today, unfortunately. Many people feel that the writing in this book is dated, I don't agree. It was plainly written but we needed that frankness because of the subject. A brilliant piece of literature that touches on an incredibly important topic.

One of the first books I read with a lesbian character was Annie on my Mind. That was over ten years ago, but I will never forget the name of Nancy Garden. That book opened so many doors and help a great deal of people over the years. It is a classic like no other.

This book, while not as groundbreaking read in 2017, was still a book I appreciated. It opened the idea that morality and education are not mutually elusive, but that at times they had to be held apart. This is a lesson that is very difficult for some people to grasp as it is hard to put your own views on hold to address an issue. That was seen on both sides of the issues of condom distribution and “homosexuality”. The MC was a girl that was not sure of her own sexuality, but had very passionate views about newspapers and freedom of speech. That was pretty interesting to me. The focus was not on the sexuality of the character developing, but instead on how others focused on that instead of the real issues at hand. Jamie was clearly struggling with it, but the book didn’t rehash every little thought she had about the subject, it was a background plot. That was something I am very grateful for. Most YA gay books in the 90’s and early 2000’s focused pretty much exclusively on “am I gay?” and first love stories. The way the sexuality was handled called to mind “the personal is political”. It taught the kids a lesson that your sexuality is a thing that others will care about more than you do at times. It was wonderfully done.

I don’t understand how often homosexuality was spelled completely out in the text. I came out only a few years after this book was published, but not once was I asked if I was a homosexual. I was called a homo, a queer, a faggot, and more. Yet, the full clinical term of homosexual was still used repeatedly. It made the book feel a bit disjointed and too held back. It made the dialogue clunky.

This is a book better read in the context of the time it was written as it has not held up wonderfully to technological advances or to even societal advances, which I am very thankful for. This may not be the classic that Annie on My Mind was, but this is a book I will point out to others as a great example of books allowing sexuality to fall to the back burner in YA queer literature.

When I studied journalism, in college, this was before personal computers became common. There were computers in the work room, where we could enter our stories, but these were before the mouse, and you had to code bolds, and italics, and fun stuff like that. This was before what became known as Desktop Publishing, so all the text were printed out and pasted onto the sheet, and then sent off to the print shop to put together.

I bring this up, because, kids-these-days&trade; probably think all the discussions about layout and printing and such might seem out of date, and since this book was written in the 90s, it does feel a bit out of date. It was before the Internet had become so big, before Wikipedia, before most of the websites that are out there today. That is why the kids, in this book, have to go to the library to research newspapers. It seems like another world, and yet, it was less then a quarter century ago.

But, while the technology might be old fashioned, the message of this book, is, unfortunately still around, that there is a group of conservatives who feel they have to impose their brand of morality on the rest of the world.

And their version of morality says that teens should not have sex, should not be gay, and should not even know about either sex, or homosexuality, because that will protect them.

I wish I could say the fight is old, and doesn't happen any more, but it does.

There is a great line in the book, after the majority of parents vote to not offer sex education or "certain" books in the library.
<blockquote>
"The opinion of the majority is important," Mr. Just said. "But the majority must never be allowed to tyrannize the minority–nor must the minority be allowed to tyrannize the majority."</blockquote>

Great book, though it started a little slow. By the time I got half way through my heart was breaking for the closeted teens, and their fight with the family-values parents.

If you want to read other books with teens, censorship, and "morality" minded parents, I would suggest <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1538465162">Americus</a>.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

I do appreciate the fact that this book opens with a pretty open conversation about sexuality. But goodness, the passive voice in this made me almost stop reading it only 4% in. Maybe it's because I grew up in a very similar setting (where not talking about sex at all meant maybe no one was having it, despite the numbers of pregnant girls in my classes), but I could relate to the story. But I couldn't really connect with any of the characters.

BROOKE’S REVIEW

Nancy Garden explore themes of sexuality and freedom of speech in her YA novel - The Year They Burned the Books. We follow Jamie Crawford and her friend Terry, as they struggle to come to terms with their sexuality in a small town. As writers for the newspaper, they have a unique outlet when religious forces bear down and threaten the very concept of freedom of speech and their individual rights.

While this book was first published in 1999, it still feels timeline and relevant given the rampant tribalism of our current political context. While a YA book, it may not be seen as suitable for all teens, given the content, but will likely be appreciated by many who choose to read it.

AUTHOR

Nancy Garden, the author of the novel “Annie on My Mind” and other volumes that helped young readers explore themes of gay romance and self-discovery when few books offered such an outlet, died June 23 at her home in Carlisle, Mass. She was 76.

Ms. Garden wrote several dozen books, including works of fantasy and historical fiction. She was best known for “Annie on My Mind” (1982), which has been recognized as an important contribution to young adult literature.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Year they burned the books – Nancy Garden

It has been far too long since I’ve read a book by Nancy Garden, I read Annie on my Mind about a million years ago and although it was a little dated, I did enjoy it and am a little ashamed its taken me this long to pick up another of her books. As this book from the nineties is being re released I grabbed a copy from Netgalley!

When Wilson High Telegraph editor Jamie Crawford writes an opinion piece in support of the new sex-ed curriculum, which includes making condoms available to high school students, she has no idea that a huge controversy is brewing. Lisa Buel, a school board member, is trying to get rid of the health program, which she considers morally flawed, from its textbooks to its recommendations for outside reading. The newspaper staff find themselves in the center of the storm, and things are complicated by the fact that Jamie is in the process of coming to terms with being gay, and her best friend, Terry, also gay, has fallen in love with a boy whose parents are anti-homosexual. As Jamie’s and Terry’s sexual orientation becomes more obvious to other studetns, it looks as if the paper they’re fighting to keep alive and honest is going to be taken away from them. Nancy Garden has depicted a contemporary battleground in a novel that probes deep into issues of censorship, prejudice, and ethics.

I am sad to say that there are still people who have to live in this kind of community, where their education and their rights are diminished every day by fundamentalists, so even though this is a rerelease of an older book and feels a little dated in places, this is still a little bit too fresh in terms of the rampant homophobia that Terry and Jamie experience throughout the book.

What we have here is the perfect starter novel for anyone looking for YA LGBTQA+ fiction, Nancy Garden presents such interesting characters in these books. Jamie, our main character, is an intelligent high school student who decides to start running her own paper alongside the school paper to try and keep the town informed on the news she isn’t allowed to report on due to the censorship imposed by an extreme church group. The book deals with her struggles, not only with her sexuality, but with the issues of truth and opinion and the difficult line between the two, as well as the ideas of community and what brings people together and tears them apart. All tropes that Nancy Garden does so well.

Though this isn’t necessarily ground breaking or diverse, especially when surrounded by books released more recently, The Year They Burned the Books is still sadly relevant and is a story that needs to be told.

Also, that cover is vewy nice.

what a wonderful book to read!! this is one of my best read in 2017. if you haven't check this one out, you should tho. :)