“Fantasy books are the devil’s work!”
“Freedom to read is every American’s right!”
Neil’s freshman year won’t be the same without his best friend Danny whose ultra-religious mom banishes him to military school for reading an Apathea Ravenchilde book and stating his personal beliefs.
This graphic novel has belligerent book-banners, the same bullies from junior high, a courageous youth librarian, Neil’s intro to punk rock, and excerpts from fantasy books that readers will wish were real.
Welcome, AtoZers – got a banned book story to share?
**kmm
Book info: Americus / written by MK Reed; art by Jonathan Hill. First Second Books, 2011. [author site] [artist site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: Neil misses his best friend and their mutual love for Ravenchilde books when Danny’s Bible-thumping mom sends him to military school for reading a fantasy book.
When she tries to have the series banned from their Oklahoma town’s library, the high school freshman decides to stand up against censorship and maybe even against being bullied himself in this graphic novel celebrating our freedom to read. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)
Sounds like a good book. I don’t have any book banning stories myself, My parents and my school allowed me to read whatever books I wanted when I was a child, and a teen. From V C Andrews to steamy romance, no one seemed all that bothered by what I read and as a result, I grew up wanting to read everything.
Nicky @ http://njmagas.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/a-is-for/
I don’t have a story, either, but I love controversial books. Any book that evokes an emotion good or bad is something to pay attention to.
Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
2014 A to Z Challenge
Nicole’s #atozchallenge Mighty Minion
Hey there! I stumbled upon you for the A to Z Challenge. In college, I was a member of the English Honor Society and every year we held a Banned Books event during the week of banned books — where we dug out all the recently banned books for students to borrow, and had a big display about them, explaining why they were banned etc. It was something I always enjoyed.
Kate at Daily discovery
This sounds like a good book. I’m adding it to my to read list.
Stopping by to say hello from the A-Z Challenge– Hello!
I don’t have any book-banning stories, in fact if a book is banned it makes me want to read it more.
However, this book sounds really interesting and since I am trying to learn more about graphic novels, this might be one that I have to find in my library or in a book store.
Thank you for the recommendation!
So nice to see y’all here! When I was a high school librarian, my student aides would help me “hide” books from the ALA 100 most challenged books list (http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks) from our library in brown paper lunch bags during Banned Books Week. Kids would peek into the bags and be amazed/appalled by which of their favorites had been challenged or banned in other places!
**kmm