NOT ANOTHER BANNED BOOK

Seven Massachusetts middle schoolers team up to fight school censorship.

For eighth grader Molly Claremont, Ms. Lewiston’s Book Club is a place where she feels a reprieve from worries, such as conflict with her former best friend and grief over her brother’s death. When Ms. Lewiston is put on administrative leave and her classroom library is gutted, Molly recruits the LBC members in schemes to right these wrongs by sneaking into book-banning meetings, attempting a school walkout, writing to a famous author, making a short video, and more. After these failed escapades, Molly wonders if she can even make a difference—and she distances herself from her family and friends, hiding her problems. Readers familiar with some of Levy’s earlier works will recognize several book club members: Molly and Theo, who are white, Jax, a Black boy with two dads who has ADHD, and makeup artist and free spirit Alice, who is cued only as not white. Other LBC members include death-metal guitarist Mik, a Black boy who’s gay, and white siblings and athletes Alex and Kait. They work together to show why broad, inclusive representation in books matters. Written in Molly’s first-person present-tense voice, the often-humorous narrative is sprinkled with text messages and book references. Levy shows both the sometimes-scary complexities of middle school life and how stepping into someone else’s story can lead to empathy.

An ode to how books can be windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.