Ban This Book

Ban This Book
by Alan Gratz
Starscape, 2017

"...for all the amazing things books can do, they can't make you into a bad person." p.232

Nope. They open our minds, make us think, introduce us to new worlds and different ways of living and being, entertain us, and call us to action. But they don't make us into bad people, or good people, or any kind of people at all. It's up to us to take action and be the person we want to be.

And that's precisely what Amy Anne learns in this book. She has always been the quiet mouse of a reader, chewing on the ends of her braids, having conversations in her head but not standing up for herself out loud...until her favorite book in the world is banned from the school library. The book is not banned through the formal board-approved process of review. Rather, it is banned because one powerful mother goes straight to the board, bypassing all the rules, and gets what she wants.

Not only does Amy Anne learn to say what's on her mind, she also learns the importance of empathy. It's not until she looks at the situation from the point of view of the book-banning mom is she able to provide the school board with the argument that wins her case -- you can't ban books because a single reader finds fault with them. If you did that, you might as well ban all the books in the library.

Hooray for the teachers in this book and their study of the Bill of Rights. Hooray for Amy Anne's friend Rebecca who wants to become a lawyer and who knows all about Robert's Rules of Order (and wears a suit and carries a briefcase to the school board meeting at the end of the book). Hooray for Alan Gratz for giving book-loving kids a book where the reader is the hero, and a story where the misuse of power is defeated by democracy.

I'm going to add Mrs. Jones to our list of 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature even though she's a librarian. She gets fired because of Amy Anne's BBLL (Banned Books Locker Library), but she doesn't hold it agains Amy Anne. She tells her, "Well-behaved women seldom make history. Consider this your first taste of behaving badly in the name of what's right." p.223

I'll end with this: "All the book challenges, the real ones, were because one person saw a book in a very different way than somebody else. Which was fine. Everbody had the right to interpret any book any way they wanted to. What they couldn't do then was tell everybody else their interpretation was the only interpretation." p.195.

Amen.

New Cool Teachers

Mr. Terupt in Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea, a middle grade novel up for consideration by the CYBILS, submitted by Kyle (his review here).

Miss Hendrickson in I Know Here by Laurel Croza, a picture book reviewed by Franki here, submitted by Jeff.

Any other cool teachers in the books you're reading? Let us know, and we'll add them to our list!

100+ Cool Teachers In Children's Literature

It's been a while since we've added a new teacher to our list of Cool Teachers in Children's Literature.

When we started the list, in the summer of 2006, we were hoping to collect a list of 100 Cool Teachers. We are now up to 130 teachers!! The list is in alphabetical order by author's last name.

Mandy, at Enjoy and Embrace Learning, has suggested Ms. Lilly from Noonie's Masterpiece by Lisa Railsback. In her nomination, Mandy writes:

"Ms. Lilly is insightful and wise. I love these two bits of advice she gives Noonie; 'artists have the power to change the world' and 'sometimes artist block is a good thing.' Ms. Lilly is also instrumental in showing Noonie it's okay to carry around a mentor text, the Masterpiece, it's a collection of different artist Noonie refers to constantly while she thinks about her own art. Ms. Lilly guides Noonie at the end showing her how to accept her journey and life."

Have there been any cool teachers in the books you've read recently?

TOFU QUILT and a couple more cool teachers

Tofu Quilt

by Ching Yeung Russell

Lee & Low Books, Inc., 2009

Review copy provided by the publisher

This is the story of a girl growing up in a culture that values boys. Luckily, her mother scrapes together the money to send her daughter to school, where Yeung Ying falls in loves with books and stories and writing.

This is the story of a writer being born -- it is about her false starts and first steps and her perseverance and her dream.

This is the story of the impact a few good writing teachers can make on a writer's early life. The poem, "mr. hon," (did I mention, this is an autobiographical novel in verse?) tells about Yeung Ying's 4th grade teacher:

He reads us

a Chinese translation of a story

about three American boys from

a long time ago,

who rode a raft on the Mississippi River.

.

.

.

And Mr. Hon is the first teacher

who displays my stories

marked, "Great work!"

on the classroom bulletin board

even though

I

am

just

a

girl.

Not until her seventh grade teacher does Yeung Ying get encouragement again, when she hears, "Your story really comes to life" and "You write very well./ Keep trying./ You can be a writer someday."

I nominate Mr. Hon and Mr. Lee for inclusion on our list of 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature. (We are up to 128 Cool Teachers. Has there been a Cool Teacher in a book you read recently?)

For a fabulous review of Tofu Quilt, complete with mouth-watering photos, head on over to Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup.

100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature -- The One Year Anniversary

A year ago, Franki wrote this post:

Okay so I am totally loving the lists from Jen Robinson's Book Page blog--Cool Boys from Kid Lit and Cool Girls From Children's Literature. I loved reading over these lists and thinking about these great characters we love.

I soo loved the idea that I started thinking. Could we come up with 100 Cool Teachers from Children's Lit? What do you think? So many teachers in books are these stereotypic, mean, dumpy people who are worn out. So, let's start putting together a list of 100 Cool Teacher's in Children's Lit. I am going to start with Great Aunt Arizona from MY GREAT AUNT ARIZONA by Gloria Houston. I also think The Giver in THE GIVER is a cool teacher. I would also like to add Mrs. Granger from FRINDLE by Andrew Clements. She is cool in disguise. We're looking for thoughtful teachers who understand kids and learning and are active, intelligent people who love their work. Do you think we can find 100? We are taking suggestions from readers!

A year later, and our list has over 100 cool teachers! (The list has a permanent home in our sidebar, too.) Thanks for all your suggestions! Surely there are some cool teachers in the books you've read recently -- let's keep the list growing!