THE GREAT BANNED-BOOKS BAKE SALE

A districtwide book ban sparks a protest in this follow-up to The Arabic Quilt (2020).

Kanzi, an Egyptian immigrant, and her classmates are dismayed to learn that a number of diverse stories—defined as “books showing people of many identities, backgrounds, and walks of life” —have been removed from their library and classrooms (oddly, these titles appear to have been confined to a single “diverse books” section). Not finding any books that reflect her identity, Kanzi retreats into her poetry notebook. A class discussion leads Kanzi to suggest a bake sale, with proceeds going to purchase banned books for the diverse community’s Little Free Libraries. Later, as she and her grandmother Teita bake baklawa, Teita draws a connection between this protest and those she marched in during the 2011 Egyptian uprising, impressing on Kanzi the need to raise her voice. The book takes on an all-too-relevant topic—indeed, the author’s note discusses how this tale was inspired by a real-life attempt at banning The Arabic Quilt in 2021. However, it suffers from rushed pacing and didactic writing. It’s not clear why the ban is reversed so quickly or why the books were removed to begin with. The librarian’s explanation that “some books are so powerful that they intimidate people” is a misguided statement at odds with the story’s message that books centering marginalized identities are especially being targeted. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A well-meaning effort at exploring censorship that doesn’t quite hit the mark.