A deeply resonating and timely anthology.

Banned Together collects stories from authors' who have had their work censored across America. It depicts the harrowing reality of banning books and the affect it has on our freedom to read for all. These stories will be a beacon of hope for all to keep fighting the fight against censorship.

Okay wow. Wow.

WOW.

As a kid, I used to think that book banning was a cause where the good guys would win easily. Reality has set in, realizing that book banners aren't video game bosses. You have to keep fighting them every year for the rest of your life if you are a writer or a reader.

Banned Together has a series of essays, comics and short stories about kids facing these "organizers". Some of these villains are parents who won't listen; others are anonymous faces that suddenly show up with a gun. Trung Le Nguyen and Maia Kobabe illustrate their struggles with just wanting to draw a graphic novel that spoke to their experiences while Padma Venkatraman crafts a teacher that saves her students in more way than one. We get heartbreaking fiction of how one mom's campaign and her son's cowardice ruin a friendship forever, and absolutely tearjerking recollections of immigrant trauma and child abuse. Ellen Hopkins dives into nightmarish poetry about what if she hadn't been raised by parents that encouraged her reading. And it made me wonder just how kids like me avoided that.

Of course, there are some misses in this one, but even those like Kelly Jensen's essay provide important information about PCOS. The point remains that book bans didn't end with randos on the phone calling Judy Blume a communist for writing about God and puberty. They're adapting and targeting more than the YA books that discuss sex and drugs frankly.

We also have to adapt.

Banned Together is a collection of works by multiple writers who's books got banned.

𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨—𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨, 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨—𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙡.

This book is full of quotes, artwork and anekdotes.
All of them powerfull both as a whole and seperatly.

𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒
𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒,
𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝐼 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠,
𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒.
𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔.

Not only does this book mention banned books, it also gives tips on how to start your own banned book club, how to write a letter to your local politicians.

𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 "𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑" 𝑎𝑛𝑑"𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒"
𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑟ℎ𝑦𝑚𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒
𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜.

"Banned Together" by Ashley Hope Pérez, illustrated by Debbie Fong, is an engaging and thought-provoking graphic novel that tackles important issues like censorship and the power of literature. Pérez’s storytelling is heartfelt and powerful, and Fong’s illustrations bring the story to life in a beautiful way. This book is both timely and inspiring, offering a poignant reminder of the importance of standing up for freedom of expression. Huge thanks to the publisher for the ARC! I’ve already added a copy to my library system. If you're passionate about books, activism, and the fight for intellectual freedom, this one’s a must-read. Highly recommend it!

This is a fantastic book for young adults and adults alike! I really liked how this book was laid out and designed with the illustrations. This book is full of important information and tools to use to fight censorship and book bans. It is a must for every library!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Some of the stories were very good but sometimes the formatting didn’t work for my device. Not sure if it was a technical issue or the book itself. Still a very valuable book for libraries to have!

A must own for all HS libraries—already ordered copies for my HS library! I loved the facts shared and the personal stories and that each author had their own chapter. A beacon of hope and light during a troubling time for libraries.

Thank you NetGalley, Holiday House, and Ashley Hope Pérez for access to Banned Together.

Banned Together is a collection of stories, art, and narratives that explores book bans in a concise and digestible way for teens. The stories do a beautiful job of explaining book banning, the importance of access to information, and the need to fight for the freedom to read.

This will be a great addition for teen libraries and is a relevant and timely resource.

I loved this. Very insightful. Would read again and would use in the classroom with the children I teach.

I can't express how much I appreciated and enjoyed this book. As a librarian, it hurts my heart seeing all of the malicious attacks against teachers, library workers, publishers, and others in the world of literature perpetuated by people afraid of intellectual freedom.

These essays are perfect for the times; whether it's a personal anecdote or a well thought-out think piece, these stories have lessons in them: book banning is censorship, and it's very dangerous.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a great collection of Essays from different types of authors with one thing in common: their books are banned. It’s a shame that we have to have a book like this, but hopefully this book, letting the author’s get their stories out will help show just how stupid book bans are.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House, for this advanced copy to review.

It’s sad to see that book banning is an increasingly prominent issue. Banned Together is a collection from various authors who have experienced book banning. In sharing their experiences, many of the contributors have highlighted the powerful impact of literature and the consequences of its censorship. I particularly liked the resources shared throughout the book, including the titles of different texts that have been banned for exploring particular issues.

4.25⭐️

This is truly a crucial moment! It brilliantly weaves together the inspiring stories of individuals and communities who are passionately striving to preserve our literary heritage. Their efforts highlight the importance of keeping our books alive, ensuring that the stories, knowledge, and culture they represent continue to enrich our lives. Through their dedication, we gain insight into the challenges they face and the creative solutions they implement, reminding us all of the value of literature in shaping our society.

I didn't expect this book could be that resourceful. I am living in Indonesia and I don't know much about book banning or censorship that happened in the US. But by reading this book, it gave me new perspective on how reader or people who love reading as much as I am response to the phenomena of book banning.

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

It's not often that one sees a title with starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, but a new book intended for high school students achieved just that. Dedicated to "brave readers everywhere who persist when cowards try to erase stories and communities from libraries," BANNED TOGETHER is edited by Ashley Hope Pérez and illustrated by Debbie Fong. In order to chronicle "Our Fight for Readers' Rights," Pérez has compiled contributions (essays, poetry, drawings) from sixteen authors like Ellen Hopkins, Kyle Lukoff, and Nikki Grimes whose work has been challenged or banned. Also included is a short graphic novel type story about The Vandegrift Banned Book Club in Leander, Texas. Booklist says, "this collection movingly reminds readers of the power they have against censorship" Check out a copy today.

Another tool for restricting information is to limit library funding as evidenced in a recent executive order intent on dismantling "the only federal agency dedicated to sustaining the entire museum and library ecosystem in the United States." Please see the American Libraries Association page of FAQs about the recent executive order impacting IMLS, The Institute of Museum and Library Services. The ALA suggests several actions to take now. More information is available through news stories such as those found at The Conversation, the Associated Press, and NPR or from other advocacy groups like EveryLibrary.

ALA link: https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls

This was a fantastic and powerful read. This anthology is filled with various genres (i.e. memoir, poetry, essays, fiction, illustatrations/graphics) that discuss book bans and encourages to fight back against the bans. This is such a great resource and perfect for all ages. It's an important read. I love that the book includes a list of banned books and other resources.

Books like this are more important than ever. I will purchase a copy for my teenage son, along with several of the recs in this book.

I really loved this book. All of the stories were really well done, and I loved how each author took their own spin on censorship and book banning. Some of the stories were really heartwrenching, while others were a bit more lighthearted, and I think the balance was well done. Definitely recommend.

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. This is a collection of writings from various authors whose works have been banned or pulled from shelves recently. It would have been a 5-star recommendation except for the unnecessarily graphic and tone-deaf story from Elana Arnold. I had to go take a walk as I was angry at being subjected to that. Other than that, the stories were heartfelt and encouraging. I would definitely recommend the book.