Laurie Boris

Hi, book lovers! In the U.S., today (October 5) is the start of Banned Books Week. Organized by the American Library Association, among other groups, this yearly campaign highlights books that have been challenged or banned from school curriculums and libraries and celebrates the freedom to read. Learn more about their mission and see the top ten banned or challenged books from 2024.

What might surprise you about book bans and challenges is that it only takes one person with a form (who doesn’t even have to live in the school district in question) to launch a challenge on a book—or a whole lot of books. This led to a political culture war against “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel about a young person grappling with their sexual identity in a very authentic and vulnerable way, in which a senator I won’t name read a tiny excerpt taken out of context and used it to start a metaphorical bonfire against the whole of LGBTQ+ young adult literature. You don’t want your kids reading it? Fine. That’s between you and your kids. But you don’t get the right, in a country that still has some rights the last time I checked, to tell other kids what they can’t read. Enough of our rights are under attack at the moment, but I will always fight for this one, and I’m heartened that others will, too.

Anyway. I like to celebrate Banned Books Week by reading one or two books from the Top Ten list. This year, since I’ve already read many on the list, I’m reading John Green’s “Looking for Alaska.” It was written in 2007, but so far it doesn’t feel dated and seems actually tame when compared with some of today’s young adult fiction.

Other Reading Suggestions

Looking for more book recommendations? I’ve been following Book Shepherd, which asks authors and readers to submit their three favorite books from what they’ve read the previous year. It’s been fun to be a part of the Shepherd journey from the start. Here are my three favorites. Check them out and, if you’d like, submit your own.

Happy (and defiant) reading!