Reasons For Banning This Book By Alan Gratz

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz takes a look at the banning of books through the lens of elementary schooler Amy Anne. It details what it means to ban a book and what implications it can have on society. It covers additional themes such as child-adult hierarchy, fact vs. opinion, family dynamics, and finding your confidence: all of which contribute to Amy Anne’s fight to get books unbanned at her elementary school.

Overall, I liked this book. I enjoy stories of children standing up to adults who think they can’t do anything. I have worked with children in many of my jobs, and I am always surprised at how intelligent they can be. Most children have this innate urge to learn and figure out the world around them. This is why a school's responsibility should be to provide unbiased and informative education to children, so they may become informed consumers of information and make their own judgments.

Jones, the librarian, takes a stand against the banning of books in the elementary school, she says, “Every parent has the right to decide what their child can and can’t read. What they cannot do is make that decision for everyone else” (Gratz 34). Just because one parent doesn’t want their child to read about a specific topic doesn’t mean other parents think the same. People's opinions shouldn’t affect the lives of others around them, and when they do, that's when there is a flaw in the system that is making the rules.

An additional theme that I think is prevalent throughout the book is family dynamics. In Amy Anne’s family, she felt she had no space to be by herself in a quiet space, so she would lie to her parents and stay after school to read. Later in the book, her sister shreds important papers she needed to try and get the school board to unban the books. Amy Anne releases all her bottled-up resentment, saying, “Why do you think I pretended to be in clubs and stayed late after school every day? Because I hate this house and everybody in it”