The Year They Burned the Books

Rating:
Summary: reader from new york
Review: This was a very controversial book. My teacher lent it to me because I was doing a project on censorship and this book was about censorship. I have read other books by Garden, and this one definitely lived up to my standards. I think that Jamie had tremendous courage to do everything that she did, and she could be used as a role model for many people. For people who want to know what the book was about, I'll tell you. When Jamie wrote an editorial on condoms for her school newspaper, it started off a chain of controversial events. The woman running for the board of education was against everything Jamie stood for. This book was very good. I think that people should read it because it might help them see the other side of things.

Rating:
Summary: reader from new york
Review: When I first read some reviews of this book, I thought maybe Garden had taken on too many subjects for one novel. Reading it, however, I started to think that its themes are unified and that it is showing a whole system of the ways people are silenced by oppressive groups. The closet takes many forms, and the kids' inability to speak about who they are - for fear of being physically hurt - is mirrored in the censoring of information about sex and the censoring of commentary about the censorship itself. The novel is thought-provoking about social issues as well as moving in its portrayal of individuals finding their voices. If I'm picky, I could say that some of the dialogue sounded too written to me, and I really dislike the book's cover. But I read it in a few hours, and I feel richer for it. I am going to use it in my YA Literature class.

Rating:
Summary: silence = death
Review: When I first read some reviews of this book, I thought maybe Garden had taken on too many subjects for one novel. Reading it, however, I started to think that its themes are unified and that it is showing a whole system of the ways people are silenced by oppressive groups. The closet takes many forms, and the kids' inability to speak about who they are - for fear of being physically hurt - is mirrored in the censoring of information about sex and the censoring of commentary about the censorship itself. The novel is thought-provoking about social issues as well as moving in its portrayal of individuals finding their voices. If I'm picky, I could say that some of the dialogue sounded too written to me, and I really dislike the book's cover. But I read it in a few hours, and I feel richer for it. I am going to use it in my YA Literature class.