Call for Reviews of Challenged Books

By now, most people are aware of the case of the school in Florida that removed from its school library shelves a poetry book by Amanda Gorman, containing the inauguration poem "The Hill We Climb".

The poem, written for young people and read aloud to the entire country in a moving performance that reverberated coast to coast, was removed from access to pre-middle school children on the complaint of a single parent, who complained that it would "cause confusion and indoctrinate students." (via)

As a PEN America study points out, the explosion of book bans and challenges "are driven by a confluence of local actors and state-level policy." Most disturbingly, books are being removed from library shelves without adhering to established review processes, in response to as little as a single complaint, such as in the case of Amanda Gorman above. And yet, when asked, most parents oppose book bans.

This week SIBA both celebrated the publication of the 150th issue of The Southern Bookseller Review, and launched Decide for Yourself: a series of featured bookseller reviews of books that have been challenged or banned. The first review, of Katherine Applegate's The Wish Tree, appeared in this week's newsletter:

A beautiful book that made my heart ache in the best ways. Another masterpiece from Applegate that teaches us a little about ourselves while weaving a tree and the community where it lives. -- Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

As mentioned in SBR, indie booksellers are among the most fierce defenders of every person’s right to read. Readers can trust what they say, because unlike many of the challenges that have been made against these books, indie booksellers read the books they choose to talk about. If you want an honest opinion, ask your local independent bookseller. 

The Southern Bookseller Review seeks reviews of banned books from booksellers for the new series. Reviews can be posted to the SIBA Community on Edelweiss, or submitted to SBR directly at the link below:

SUBMIT A REVIEW