Banned and Challenged

Four Book Reviews

Authors

  • Terri Suico, Editor Saint Mary's College
  • Kathryn Caprino Elizabethtown College
  • Anita Dubroc East Baton Rouge Parish School System
  • Lisa A. Hazlett The University of South Dakota
  • Ann Marie Smith North American University, Houston

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2376-5275.2023.6.1.205-216

Keywords:

banned books, challenged books, book reviews

Abstract

Reviews with rationales for four challenged trade books that deserve a place in our libraries, classrooms, and in the hands of our students: New Kid by Jerry Craft, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King, and You Can’t Say That!an anthology edited by Leonard S. Marcus.

Author Biographies

Terri Suico, Editor, Saint Mary's College

Terri Suico is an associate professor of education at Saint Mary’s College. She earned her EdD from Boston University School of Education and her MAT from Vanderbilt University. Her scholarly work has been included in several books and journals. Most recently, an article she co-wrote appeared in NCTE’s English Education:https://library.ncte.org/journals/ee/issues/v55-2/32216. She currently serves as the book review and interview editor for Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature.

Kathryn Caprino, Elizabethtown College

Kathryn Caprino is an assistant professor of education at Elizabethtown College. She earned her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She has published in the areas of English education, writing pedagogy, and technology integration in the literacy classroom. Most recently, she co-authored Student-Centered Literacy Assessment in the 6-12 Classroom: An Asset-Based Approach with Dr. Sean Ruday. She blogs about books at katiereviewsbooks.wordpress.com. 

Anita Dubroc, East Baton Rouge Parish School System

Anita Dubroc is an English Language Coach in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. Prior to this role, she was a middle and high school English teacher. She earned her Ph.D. and master’s degrees at Louisiana State University. Her research focuses on comparative literature, young adult literature, reading communities, and English as a second language.

Lisa A. Hazlett, The University of South Dakota

Lisa A. Hazlett is professor of secondary education at The University of South Dakota, where she teaches courses in middle/secondary English language arts education.  She specializes in young adult literature regarding presentations, publications, and especially novel reviews.

Ann Marie Smith, North American University, Houston

Ann Marie Smith is an associate professor of education at North American University in Houston, Texas, where she teaches adolescent literature, English education and literacy education courses in the Department of Education.  Her publications include articles and book chapters on young adult literature, teacher education and teaching strategies for literature. 

References

American Library Association (2013, March 26). 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990-1999. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade1999

American Library Association (2022, March 24). Large majorities of voters oppose book bans and have confidence in libraries. http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2022/03/large-majorities-voters-oppose-book-bans-and-have-confidence-libraries

American Library Association. (2022a). Top 10 most challenged book lists. Retrieved from https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

American Library Association. (2022b). Free downloads. Retrieved from https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/freedownloads

Bellamy-Walker, T. (2022, January). Book bans in schools are catching fire. Black authors say uproar isn’t about students. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/book-bans-schools-are-catching-fire-black-authors-say-uproar-isnt-stud-rcna10228

Craft, J. (2019). New kid. HarperCollins.

Dellinger, H. (2021, October). How did 400 Katy ISD parents get a book removed? Accusations of Marxism and ‘critical race theory.” Houston Chronicle. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/Woman-whose-petition-led-Katy-ISD-to-cancel-16512034.php

Evison, J. (2018). Lawn boy. Algonquin Books.

Goodman, C. (2022, July). A Black Children’s Book Author of a Once-Banned Book Visited Katy. Houston Chronicle. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/katy/article/Black-author-of-book-once-banned-by-Katy-ISD-17281270.php. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/1570-6664_iyb_sim_person_53514

Gratz, A. (2017). Ban this book. Starscape.

Gross, T. (2023, April 24). Judy Blume was banned from the beginning, but says “It never stopped me from writing.” https://www.npr.org/2023/04/24/1171112806/judy-blume-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-forever#

Harris, E. A. & Alter, A. (2022, January 30). Book ban efforts spread across the U.S. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/books/book-ban-us-schools.html

King, A. S. (2022). Attack of the black rectangles. Scholastic Press.

Levithan, D. (2022). Answers in the pages. Knopf.

Marcus, L. S. (2021). ‘You can’t say that!’ Writers for young people talk about censorship, free expression, and the stories they have to tell. Candlewick. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/bcc.2021.0395

PEN America. (2023, April 20). Banned in the USA: State laws supercharge book suppression in schools. https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/

Ulin, D. L. (2002, July 19). Why inappropriate books are the best kind. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-07-19/books-ban-pen-america-censorship

Varnes, A. (2019). Property of the rebel librarian. Yearling.

Yolen, J. (2004). The devil’s arithmetic. Penguin Young Readers Group.

Book covers for the 4 titles under review.

Downloads

Published

2023-08-26

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2023): CENSORSHIP AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE: INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM, READING RIGHTS, & READING ACTIVISM

Section

Book Reviews

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Terri Suico, Editor, Kathryn Caprino, Anita Dubroc, Lisa A. Hazlett, Ann Marie Smith

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.