The surest way to give books free publicity and promotion is to point fingers at them and attempt to ban them. Often those books are so valuable, enlightening, and great for forging connections, that depriving certain people of the ability to experience them is a hot topic. Nick Rodriguez, our Teen Librarian, is starting a Banned Book Club at our local high school and he joins me to talk about potential titles for this program and the importance of fighting censorship.

Discussed:

Maus, by Art Spiegelman

Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

1984, by George Orwell

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien

Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo

Flamer, by Mike Curato

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe

Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

Alice Isn't Dead, by Joseph Fink

Video game: Outer Wilds

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Crank, by Ellen Hopkins