Week 51 Review: Suggested Reading

From Goodreads:
In this hilarious and thought-provoking contemporary teen standalone that's perfect for fans of Moxie, a bookworm finds a way to fight back when her school bans dozens of classic and meaningful books.

Clara Evans is horrified when she discovers her principals "prohibited media" hit list. The iconic books on the list have been pulled from the library and aren't allowed anywhere on the school's premises. Students caught with the contraband will be sternly punished.

Many of these stories have changed Clara's life, so she's not going to sit back and watch while her draconian principal abuses his power. She's going to strike back.

So Clara starts an underground library in her locker, doing a shady trade in titles like Speak and The Chocolate War. But when one of the books she loves most is connected to a tragedy she never saw coming, Clara's forced to face her role in it.

Will she be able to make peace with her conflicting feelings, or is fighting for this noble cause too tough for her to bear?

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! I mean, it really triggered some emotions in me, I really raged at the book banned-ness of it all, because I am a book lover, and book banning is pretty awful. Especially books about teens, who've been through horrible things, or who are LGBT+. To ban those books, is to not let teens see themselves in those books, and everybody deserves that.

The thing about book bans, is that nobody should get the say in what a whole group of people are allowed and not allowed to read. If you are a parent, then you can dissuade your child from reading that book. You can't then say someone else's child should not read that book. 

And oh, the way that the school went about the ban, that was so aggravating! To have it barely written in the school code, to barely mention that there were some books banned, to not have a list, to not have communication with the school council...it was all designed to make it as undercover as it could be, and it was rage-inducing! 

When Clara starts spiraling, about the right and wrong of her actions, and the book bans, I wanted to give her a hug. That just because that happened, doesn't mean that it was your fault, and there's a good chance if you hadn't done what you did, then it could, and probably would've, been worse. 

This was a really great read and I can't wait to read more by David Connis!  

Author: David Connis
Read: December 18th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss/Library
Reason Why: It sounded fantastic, and it's a SAC 2023 Book and a Sophomore Challenge Book!
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Published: September 17th 2019

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars