Banned Together

Banned Together
Edited By Ashley Hope Pérez 
Holiday House, 2025. 294 pages. Young Adult Fiction

This book of short stories, Banned Together: Our Fight For Readers' Rights, is a call-to-action for young people living in a country where banning books is a reality. It spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read; fifteen diverse, award-winning YA authors from across the country offer their stories and their advice. It's part memoir, part graphic novel, part fiction, and all heart. From moving personal accounts to clever comebacks aimed at censorship, these authors/illustrators confront the high-stakes questions of what is lost when books are kept from teens. I read this book all in one sitting because it was captivating, gut-wrenching, and gave me that wonderful feeling of knowing I'm not alone in my worry.

If you like Banned Together, you might also like: 

You Can't Say That!
Edited By Leonard S. Marcus
Candlewick Press, 2021. 220 pages. Nonfiction 

What happens when freedom of expression comes under threat? Thirteen prominent authors of children's and young adult literature talk about one thing they all have in common: All have been the targets of attempts to ban or remove their work from schools and libraries. Beginning with an introduction that traces the history of censorship back to attempts at "regulating moral behavior" in ancient Greece and Rome, the book reveals many little-known historical facts about censorship. It really comes to life, however, when the authors discuss why their books have faced censorship - both blatant and "soft" - how the challenges have or haven't affected their writing, and why some people feel they have the right to deny access to books.

Banned Book Club
By Kim Hyun Sook
Iron Circus Comics, 2020. 198 pages. Young Adult Graphic Memoir

In 1983 South Korea, Kim Hyun Sook is a college freshman, determined to get the education her mother resents but her father, thankfully, supports. When she accepts an invitation to attend a seemingly benign book club that turns out to focus on banned books, she learns to navigate the university, but also political activism. As she learns the truth about her country's oppressive fascist political environment, she becomes closer to the other book club members and authorities grow increasingly desperate to identify and punish student dissidents. A tribute to young people's resistance in the face of oppression.

On Censorship
By James LaRue
Fulcrum Publishing, 2023. 130 pages. Nonfiction

In On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US, respected longtime public librarian James LaRue issues a balanced and reasonable call-to-action for citizens. The dangers of book banning and censorship in public and educational spaces are highlighted, while examples of past efforts at censorship and its dangerous impacts ask the reader to reflect on how those times are not so different from today. This book believes in free expression, supports libraries, and cherishes the central freedoms that American democracy represents. 

Our Stories, Our Voices
Edited By Amy Lynn Reed
Simon Pulse, 2018. 288 pages. Young Adult Nonfiction

This collection of essays is Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America - and the intersection with race, religion, and ethnicity. The diversity of perspectives will likely provide window and mirror moments for a wide range of readers. 

LKA