Books I've Read: This Book Won't Burn

 

In a world where books are being removed from libraries and various groups of right-wingers are advocating for laws that will remove books from bookstores, this was a particularly relevant read.

Big-city girl, Noor, is uprooted from her life when her father walks out on the family and her mother decides to re-group in a quieter small town.  This would be disruptive enough for someone only months from finishing high school, without the small town having only one other Muslim family living in it.

When, on her first day at her new school, Noor discovers a large number of books have been removed from the school library and are being challenged by a small group of parents, she's outraged.  especially since most of the challenged books are by authors of color or those in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Despite her mother warning her to just keep her head down and graduate, Noor can't ignore something that goes so far against her personal beliefs.  She and a couple of friends start a reading group - off campus to avoid angering the school administration - and read aloud from these challenged books.  Other students soon join in and before long it has become a movement within the school community.

But everyone knows Noor is the instigator, and that puts a giant target on her back.  Especially when the school's administration cracks down hard, punishing all the students, not just those who joined the subversive group.  As things get heated, and more dangerous by the day, Noor must decide how far she's willing to go for a cause that's important to her, even if it puts herself and those she cares about in danger.

 It's a brave thing for an author to take such a hot-button topic and face off with it. I imagine this is a book that instantly rocketed to the top of the "challenged book" list the text objects to.  And I object to it too.  I believe strongly that books can change lives, can save lives.   So many people feel alone in this world, certain they are the only ones feeling a certain way, but if they can see themselves and the challenges they face in a book, they can know they're not alone.  And that can be enough to save a life.

Noor is a brave protagonist, but not without flaws and that's what makes her the perfect narrator for this story.  She's grappling with some difficult things in both her homelife and her new school, so she could easily be excused from taking on a difficult social issue, especially since it makes her stand out even more than she already does in her predominantly white school.  But Noor's sense of justice is well honed and her personality is such that she can't just stand by and watch injustice unfold before her eyes.

So, I'd recommend this one.  It's not perfect and does occasionally lean too hard into the message to the detriment of the actual story, but it's an important topic and one that anyone who reads should be 100% behind.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe.

After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation. But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors. Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics—and small-town love—be her downfall?