I can't recommend this book enough. I've read two other books by this author and this has to be my favorite so far, although I was a fan before this book. The book is timely, even as debate rages in schools and communities over banning books. What I love is how sensitively the author approaches the issues, and that he doesn't just make out those who want to ban certain books from the curriculum as pure evil. In fact, Donavan's mom, who started the whole process of banning the adventure book from their classroom, was painted as someone who truly loved him with all her heart. It was clear to me that the only way to "win" in this battle is for people on both sides to talk to each other. Okay, there were some people on the side of banning the books who are not well-intentioned, but I liked the way the issue was approached at this school and in this book. There were so many good points made in this book that I would like everyone to read this book. But ultimately, what I loved about this book were Roberto and Gideon themselves as they form first a friendship, and then first love. I also loved hearing the perspectives of many of the characters in the book. This book and so many books for lgbtqa+ teens and middle school students need to be in schools everywhere.

As an aside, I loved the turtles in this book! It made me think of my own Sheldon, may he rest in peace. We lost him at the ripe old age of 50+.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This beautiful middle grade book gets all the stars! Levithan expertly weaves together three stories about friendship, bravery, adventure and love, through the lens of a classroom book challenge. The characters are endearing and plot moves quickly. This book is especially important in light of the recent book challenges and bans happening across the country.

Living in our current world is tough for a middle grader. With parents and politicians banning books with "inappropriate" themes and threatening to close libraries, firing teachers, and making marginalized populations feeling like their lives don't matter, now, more than ever, we have to promote literature that has themes of love, kindness, friendship, standing up for your beliefs, and a reflection of all children. David Levithan's book, Answers in the Pages, is a timely exploration of these themes. I highly recommend it!

It all started with a book left on a counter by Donovan where his mother was able to read one paragraph out of context. She makes the decision that the book is not appropriate for him to read and brings it to the school board. Will Donovan continue to read the book and decide for himself if it is worth the read and why it was assigned? Elsewhere Gideon is intrigued by the new student, Roberto, causing him to learn more about himself. Lastly, in the banned books pages, the Adventurers tackle a difficult mission. In this new book by David Levithan, three perspectives are intertwined encouraging you to question where you might stand in a similar situation.

This book is a creative and approachable novel that is timely and well-written. I loved the 3 storylines and how they blended together. A great take on what is currently going on in our country.

"At that moment Rick knew just how deeply he loved Oliver, and Oliver knew just how deeply he loved Rick..." One's interpretation of a single statement can make all the difference. The statement itself might be less noticeable depending on where it is seen or heard and the surrounding context. When the The Adventurers, a book being read by Donovan's fifth grade class, is picked up at home by his mother, she decides it is inappropriate for him to read. It doesn't take her long to get on the phone with Donovan's friends' moms either and schedule a meeting with the school. Donovan only read the first few pages in class but can't see what his mom would think is wrong about a book where kids go on adventures. Before he returns to class without his copy of The Adventurers (because his mom hasn't returned it), Donovan stops by the school library to get a copy so he can see what's "so bad." Because his mom drew so much attention to the book, several classmates have finished reading and the kids have honest, open discussions with each other and their teacher Mr. Howe who is openly gay. Told in short, alternating chapters, Donovan's story unfolds; alongside Gideon's, another elementary school-aged boy; and Rick and Oliver's, the characters from the book being challenged. Readers will see what happens when a book's content is challenged - how it impacts the teacher, the students, and families who may not agree with each other.

THOUGHTS: Timely and full of heart, Answers in the Pages is a book that should be in every upper elementary and middle school library!

While book banning, discrimination and parental fears are not new, this book couldn't be more relevant than right now as school boards, school libraries, and teachers are dealing with people terrified that their children might learn to accept others.

Gideon's openly gay and married fifth-grade teacher Mr. Howe has assigned the class the book "The Adventurers," but when Gideon leaves it lying around while he plays video games his mother picks it up, flips to the end, and sees something she interprets as potentially homoerotic. This begins the struggle as she organizes more mothers to get this and other books pulled from the school library. Meanwhile, Gideon and his friends are mostly confused and then angry about the whole thing, especially after one of his classmates tells them he is gay.

Gideon himself is going through some stuff as he realized he's attracted to his new classmate, Roberto.

The book builds slowly to the public challenge to the book, which includes angry parents, the school officials, the students, and the author of the book whom Gideon has invited.

It's both cheering and depressing that Levithan wrote an incredible book about book banning that will almost certainly be banned from many schools on publication. Personally, I think all of his work should be required reading; he brings such empathy, humor and feeling to his characters.

If there is an unbelievable thing in the book, it's that everyone involved is so polite. There is no screaming, no harassment of teachers at home and online (at least that the students know about), no threats. In that, it is sadly unrealistic.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this title.

This title does a great job demonstrating how so many of the parents' requests to ban books are knee jerk reactions to what they think their children are experiencing (and not experiencing) in their daily lives.

This book! O. M. G. The characters are so lovely, the subject is so important, I cannot recommend this book enough! I will be purchasing this for my middle grade nephew!

Thoroughly enjoyed this middle grade book. I’m a big fan of David Levithan and knew it would be good. Of course, it did not disappoint. The summary provides the best glimpse into what the story is all about so I will only comment on how well it was executed. I’ll admit, it took me a while to figure out that there were two MC’s initially but it was great seeing the story come together and fully flesh out. Loved the thoughts of Gideon and seeing how Donovan felt about being at the center of the challenge. It was such a great read that I was sad it was over so soon. Definitely recommend others check it out.

First, as always, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Okay, so this was an absolutely AMAZING middle grade novel about queerness and book banning and realities and growing up and family, chosen or otherwise, and friends! You can probably already tell that I have a lot of enthusiasm for this one. Levithan shouts out Nancy Garden, specifically "Annie on My Mind"; that was the first queer book I'd ever read, I was a preteen, and it was so difficult to get my hands on. None of the libraries around me carried it because of its "inappropriate content", so I found "Answers in the Pages" oddly, or perhaps not oddly at all, healing. I'm excited for kids who read this book, I'm excited for kids who can find books that help them see themselves, and I'm excited it's widely available unlike the books as a queer kid in the 90s and 00s small town Louisiana.

While I definitely see how the overlapping stories (Donovan, Gideon and Roberto, "The Adventurers") could be too much, I actually really enjoyed it. There's something to be said about the books that influence us, the people who shape us in our childhoods, and what we do with all these lessons. Seeing it all wound together like an alphabetic tapestry was beautiful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great middle grade, yes, but also just great overall!

5/5

I think that David Levithan is one of the best YA writers out there. I love his books and co-authored books and his approach to being young and growing up and all that. Answers in the Pages was a good read. It was on point (challenging a book because of the supposed content in a school district, one of the main reasons that I'm leaving my current school district, to be honest) and the results were welcome (in the book). I like the timeliness and the characters and the way that the book was told from 3 different perspectives. And the message resonates with me as it should with everyone... Love is love. Why people get so worked up over this topic is beyond me. Who cares who loves whom? Who cares what gender people identify as if any? How does any of this affect a person who is not dealing with it (I get that relatives and such of this hypothetical person have a new landscape to ford, but okay, do it together with understanding and love in your heart for crying out loud)? Levithan is able to tackle these issues with grace and understanding and he totally puts a real face to the issues that our country is facing right now and I'm here for it. The lack of a star is totally due to the Adventurers story. I get that it is the third perspective of the book, but it is a little too much for me (the action is over the top and while written for a 5th grader? it's hard to buy into that), but that's okay... it's not really the meat of the story for me, the outcome and challenge and the need to understand are far more meaningful to me than the story of the book being challenged (even though, you know, the whole book is based on the challenge of that book, you know?). Anywho, this is a must-read, in my mind, especially for teachers and people who are sickened at the direction our country, and in some cases schools, are heading. Let's put a stop to this nonsense, together!

Answers in the Pages has three concurrent tales that all show their connection towards the end. You have Donovan, reading a book about two boy adventurers that are trying to stop a dastardly Florida plot and accidentally inspiring his mom to start a book banning campaign. He says it’s because she always reads the end of the book first, and doesn’t want to consider full context. We also get into the story, as we get excerpts from The Adventurers about what leads to that last line about one boy loving another.

Meanwhile, two boys named Gideon and Roberto become closer to each other after a class assignment. They start to realize they have a lot in common, and spend time together. A shared love for turtles may bloom into something more. Yet life may get in the way of the turtles, and the bond that they have built. Miami may also be to blame, how it looms in the distance. (Can’t exactly argue about that since my city is weird and part of Florida so well-done on nailing that part.)

Donovan cannot believe that his mother would do such a thing, overreacting to a book, and leave him in the middle. She confiscates his copy, before he could get to the end, and starts petitioning the principal to remove the school. Their teacher Mr. Howe, who is openly gay, is accused of “indoctrinating” students and arrives to class visibly exhausted, but with a chipper face. When Donovan apologizes for getting Mr. Howe in trouble, his teacher says that it’s not his fault. He practically orders Donovan to not feel guilty about something that his parents did. Meanwhile the students decide to rebel, and rally around Donovan to message the author and explain what happened. His mother assumes that Donovan agrees with her that banning a book and getting a teacher in trouble is okay, as he strives to find a way to get things back to normal and read the book, to form his own opinion.

The story is very lighthearted, given the target audience is middle-grade readers. We do need a bit of lightheartedness considering that in real life, banned book challenges can lead to ruined careers, long-term trauma, and the breach of trust between parents and children. There also may be long-term ramifications with government legislation.

Note: This is an excerpt of my review on Medium

This book deftly takes on the topic of challenged books- through different lenses. A 5th grader whose mother objects to his assigned reading; a new student who finds companionship; and others. Each finds ways to express themselves eloquently. The message is strong and supportive.

I adore David Levithan and have thoroughly enjoyed his waltz into middle grade novels! He has this ability to deftly weave together stories in such a way that at first you’re scratching your head, and then it all clicks.

Writing a book that is so relevant to the times, dealing with book banning, the ability to have discussions about gender and sexual identity at school, being open and honest. Levithan doesn’t tiptoe around the issues, he marches in ready to own the room. Or maybe he owns it before he walks in. Needless to say, I think he needs to get working on The Adventurers, because that’s the next middle grade book we need!!

I absolutely loved this book and even shed a few happy tears. As an educator, my job is to teach children how to think for themselves. Not teach them what to believe or to believe in the same things I do, but to be able to make their decisions based on what they believe. This book encompasses that. Donovan and his 5th grade class have been assigned a book to read in class that suggests the main characters may be gay because they mention being deeply in love. A few parents take it to the school board in hopes to ban it from the curriculum. The three interwoven stories in this book just made it that more impactful and meaningful.
Being someone who always read above grade level and more mature things for my age, the idea of banning books just breaks my heart. I think that while not every book is for everyone, there is a book for everyone and nobody should be excluded due to others’ opinions.

I really wanted to love this middle grade novel about book banning, but it wasn't for me. I love that this book exists for kids, however.

This book is just wonderful. I have read a few of Levithan's books (and enjoyed them all), but this is my new favorite! There are three different storylines throughout the book: Gideon, Donovan, and excerpts from the challenged book The Adventurers. I really enjoyed seeing each of those storylines come together as the book progressed. Levithan did a beautiful job.

Donovan left his copy of The Adventurers on the kitchen counter, and his mom read the beginning and the last page. She immediately contacted the school and initiated a book challenge as she thought it was inappropriate for Fifth-grade students to read a story where two boys deeply love each other. Donovan and his classmates join together to fight off these few loud parents in a push to support their teacher (who is gay) and defend their right to read all books.

Gideon and Roberto, a new boy in class, become fast friends. As they continue to hang out, their friendship evolves into romance. This six-month period helps Gideon realize who he is, and has a profound influence on the rest of his life.

As you reach the end of the book and the school board meeting, be sure to have tissues close at hand. I cried several times throughout this part of the book. I only hope that Levithan's fictitious meeting becomes a reality all across the country as similar issues plague schools and libraries.

This timely middle grade novel is about parents attempting to ban a book from a school district. Donovan's mom always reads the ending of a book before she starts from the beginning, but the ending of the book Donovan leaves in the kitchen ("The Adventurers") upsets his mom so much, she tells him he needs to stop reading. Period.

This snowballs into phone calls, numerous angry parents, and a school board meeting to determine the fate of this and other LBGTQIA books in their school district.

Answers in the Pages intertwines Donovan's story with excerpts from "The Adventurers," as well as a mysterious third story about another boy, attempting to figure out his feelings for a new friend. I loved the way these storylines intertwined, it was perfection!

The escalating book challenges and bans in America alarms me, and that's to put it politely. This is the perfect middle grade novel to read in our current educational (and political) climate.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Answers in the Pages is a book about censorship, acceptance, and learning what really matters. When Donovan is assigned a book in class that his mother finds inappropriate, he is faced with the uncomfortable situation of being directly connected to something that impacts not just his class, but the whole town! Of course there's a process to get a book banned, which his mom is set on following through on. However, Donovan just does not understand what his mom's problem is.

This book will allow many students to see themselves in a book for (maybe) the very first time. In reading this, I thought of some of my students who I know would love this book. Set for publication on May 10th 2022, this is one you should definitely add to your to be read pile!