Amy Anne! 4th grader! Reader! Initiates her own campaign when books from the school library are being removed from the shelves based on pressure from a concerned parent. Love this book that features a quietly strong, committed young lady who surrounds herself with other passionate students to have their voices heard throughout their community, reinforcing the message that books are not to be banned. Another well-crafted book from Alan Gratz. Highly recommend.

I LOVED this book! It's perfect for book lovers that love books about books!

This book is about a girl that discovers are favorite books in her school library are being banned and removed from the library. This book does a great job at explaining why it is so problematic to ban books.

I really like this book. I wish that Gratz had used older characters. The story is appropriate for 6th, 7th grade, but with the characters being 4th grade, the older kids won't read it. But as always, Gratz's story is well-written and engaging.

This is an enjoyable story of Amy, a 4th grader who loves to read, but one day finds out a parent wants to ban "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", from the school library. Then the parent just doesn't stop with the one book, she has list after list of books that she deems inappropriate for children. Amy could not find her voice to speak up for the library at the school board meeting, so she must find her own way to make sure everyone can read the books from the "lists." Recommended for grades 4-8.

Ban This Book is a wonderful middle grade novel that will keep young readers engrossed. I was rooting for Amy Anne the whole time, and I have a feeling many 4th and 5th graders would do the same. This would be great as a teacher read aloud, given the higher level of the text. It would be a great feature for Banned Books week or to kick off the year in September!

This book is a librarian's dream come true. Amy Anne Ollinger is confused when her favorite book "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler" has been "removed" from her elementary school library. It turns out the book has been banned for encouraging children to run away from home, lie to their parents and steal loose change from fountains. So what does Amy Anne do? She opens the BBLL--Banned Books Locker Library--so that the kids at her school can still have access to her favorite book and others that the school board, and one particularly well-meaning mother, have taken off the shelves for the good of the children. The message here is that no one has the right to decide which books children can and should read besides themselves and their parents. Intellectual Freedom 101 for middle grade readers, without being preachy or pedantic. Excellent (and funny, too.) Bravo, Alan Gratz

Amy Anne is done with books being banned at her school just because one parent doesn't agree or like something doesn't mean it should be read by others. She creates the B.B.L.L. (Banned Books Locker Library) to fight for her favorite book.

If your blood boils whenever you read that a beloved book has been banned, this book is for you. When Amy finds out her favorite book--From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler--has been challenged by a parent in her school, she creates a Banned Book Club. There is so much to love about this book and these characters that I do not want to give away anything. Buy it. Read it. Love it. Share it.

The book is set in Wake County, NC in a K-6 school. A very involved parent, has gone to the school board with a number of titles from the library she feels are inappropriate for children to read. There is a challenged book reconsideration policy in place but for some reason the board takes the opinion of the parent who says she had read none of the books but knows they are bad, instead of going through proper channels currently in place. The board tells the licensed and certified librarian to remove the books from the collection immediately. She has no recourse and complies. They have removed Amy Ann's favorite book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Involved parent says that book encourages children to lie, steal, cheat and runaway from home. Amy Ann is not the only student upset with this wrong doing. The story evolves to Amy Ann's Locker being turned into a lending library for banned books, called the Banned Books Library Locker.
Some other books That have been banned are are available in The BBLL, are Wait Till Helen Cones, Captain Underpants, Scary Stories Go Tell in the Dark, the Egypt Game, Junie B Jones, Goosebumps and other titles frequently challenged and banned in schools. This goes on for awhile as the BBLL gets quite popular. One day Amy Ann is called to the principal's office and it's all over. But really it's just started. Now many, many students get behind the movement to get the books put back in the library. All this is surrounded with Amy Ann's struggle with home life, school relationships and everyday life of nine and ten year olds.
Amy Ann gets suspended from school, grounded at home, the librarian loses her job even though she complied with the school board. When Amy Ann returns to school, following her suspension, there is a new plan to get the board to reinstate the books. This is a good plan but is plagued with road blocks. 

Weaknesses with the story is the school board so readily ignoring the book banning policy. The involved parent is highly respected in the community as she chairs many charitable foundations and was the key player in getting the little kid playground replaced with new and safer equipment. Her name is even on a plaque! The visiting author, Dav Pilkey was a fun part of the story, but not likely. And I don't think the librarian would have gotten away with it.

But this is a great read. At about page 160, you will be seething mad. Yet, the story has a satisfying and clever ending. And it is agreed, by most, that simply reading a book won't make a kid lie, steal and cheat or worship false gods. 
In the last chapter, Amy Anne brings a book home from the school library, Her father exercises his parental right that has been his daughter's mantra throughout the whole ordeal. "Nobody has the right to tell you what books you can and can't read except your parents." He suggests she wait a couple years to read the book and says she'll probably enjoy it more when she's older. 
I loved this book Mr. Gratz! It's a bit different from your usual writing.

What a perfect book to explain Banned Book Week, Characters are relatable. Perfect book for reluctant readers. A definite must for collections. Next year when students ask what is Banned Book Week, now I will have the perfect book to give them.

I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher. Here is my honest review.

This is absolutely one of the best books I've read this year. I keep finding ways to sneak it into conversations with the people in my life.

There are so many reasons why I loved this book.
1. Amy Anne is a fantastic protagonist. I completely connected and identified with her. I love that her school library allowed her to visit everyday. It seems now, students are only allowed to go once a week and hardly before or after school. It's like the education system wants to block access to books - but I digress. Gratz writes her perfectly as a bookworm: she's an introvert yet inwardly strong, she's fairly understanding of those around her and quick to forgive once she's knows what drives those in her life.

2. The supporting characters are also wonderfully developed and complex and make this story come to life.

3. Amy Anne's favorite book is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which happens to be one of my most favorite books of all time as well. I remember reading it as a girl decades ago and it was the first chapter book I read aloud to my son (he was four). It's a book I quickly recommend to parents and kids alike as one to read. I cannot even fathom a single soul thinking this book is a negative influence on children.

4. I love how even though Amy Anne is 9 or 10 years old, she has already formed opinions about her world. She carries on dialogues with people in her head; she thinks this makes her weak but ultimately it gives her strength as she finds that she can voice her thoughts and opinions to those around her. While she has to learn the correct way to go about it, she definitely is a character that struggles and grows throughout the book. Young readers are going to identify with Amy Anne as she learns to speak up and stand up for what she believes in. She's a book character that you wish was real and was friends with your own child. She's inspiring. Watching her confidence grow is a magical thing.

5. Gratz tackles the concept of censorship in a direct and thought-provoking way. Since it's a children's book, it is absolutely written on their level, bringing up issues that third to sixth graders are going to easily recognize. As a parent, it is our job to guide and direct children; Gratz realizes that for middle grade readers, there still needs to be parental guidance and I respect the stance that only a parent can tell you you can't read a book. Instead of tackling issues that might give parents pause, such as the inclusion of alcohol or drug use, Gratz focuses on books that are beloved by children (and that I loved as a child) and reference bodily functions, clothing that is typically kept private, etc.

6. Amy Anne and her friends grasp the ridiculousness of the situation before the school officials do. Simple truth they come to realize: any book can be offensive to any reader. They fight back with a plan to ban every book in the library. (Example: Old Yeller - because the dog dies and that is too sad for children to deal with). The reasons they give are simple and inarguable. Gratz lays out this argument against censorship: if one book can be banned because one person doesn't like it, then any book (and thus every book) can be banned because one person takes offense. As a parent or a teacher, addressing the issue of censorship in the book can open up discussion about the world around us and whether there are lessons in the book that can be applied to our bigger world, in a way that is easy for middle grade readers to make sense of.

As a librarian I loved this book - the freedom of a reader to choose what they read is a basic right in my mind! I did have a giggle about banning Matilda and Captain Underpants. The underlying themes of standing up for yourself, the importance of friendship and loyalty were all well drawn out.

I suspect I will not be stocking it as it is too young for my secondary school library.

This was my first book by Alan Gratz. I am a new fan. I love every single thing about this book from the way the characters are described to the plot to the ending. This is a model for kid lit. I am wholeheartedly recommending this book to everyone I run into, adults and kids. I have purchased a copy for my own library and plan to book talk this on my blog. This book is why I went into school librarianship. It is a real triumph and I hope it gets into many hands

Amy is an avid reader - it is her escape from her crazy family. In fact, she would love to run away just like the characters in her favorite book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler. Imagine her surprise then when she finds that her favorite book and others have been removed from the library shelves. While the school board debates, the eager parent keeps removing books, and the librarian gets fired Amy decides to start a secret library in her locker of all the books that have been banned. But can Amy truly stand up for what she believes and can she make a difference?

The hardest part about this book was believing that the characters were 4th graders. I think if they had been 6th graders I could have "bought" it more. Other than that I enjoyed the book and its message.

Thank you to @NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.

This book gets 5 big stars for its concept. Amy Anne is a fourth grader whose favorite book is From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. When she goes to the school library one day to take it out, she discovers it's been banned after a parent complained about it, and some books, she heard were inappropriate. Amy Anne, who isn't one to say what's on her mind, wants to do something, but doesn't feel able to speak up. Instead, she starts the secret B.B.L.L. (Banned Books Locker Library), and lends copies of the banned books out to other students. When Amy's secret is discovered, she and her friends come up with a plan to get the books back into the library.
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I love the idea of kids starting a secret locker library to share the banned books, and I especially like how well the idea of banning books is handled. It's explained in a way kids can understand, and really addresses the idea that no one but your parents can tell you what you can or can't read. But the book's characters felt the wrong age to me, especially with the use of lockers in elementary school. At times it felt more middle grade, though it's characters' ages clearly make it elementary.
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I will definitely be purchasing a copy of it for our library, and highly recommend it for the important subject matter to upper elementary teachers.

I really, really enjoyed this - the concept was fun, but man, this book packs a bit of an emotional punch as well. Amy Anne has a lot of growth over the novel, but we also see glimpses of this from other characters. It was definitely worth a read, and I think it'll do really well in its target audience.

I thought this book had an amazing message but I just couldn't get into it. It was a bit childish for my tastes. I quickly got tired of the "That's what I wanted to say." Since I did not finish the book, I do not intend to publish a review.

Alan Gratz is really on a roll with the success of Refugee, which I haven’t read as my copy is still on route from a Scholastic book order I placed, but this is also a really great book. As you can tell from the cover, it is about censorship and the banning of books in a school library. Thankfully, this is not something that I have experienced first hand, but Gratz has used the experiences of others to write an interesting tale of an introverted girl named Amy Anne who attempts to find her voice, speak up and take action (just like her favourite book characters do) against this problem and even in her own family. In the first thirty pages, I worried that this might be one of those books that your book lovers enjoy, but falls flat with others, but I got more involved with the characters, particularly the family dynamics and the growth that occurred. It would make a good read aloud from grades 4-6. I managed to get a copy through NetGalley, but I will be buying my own copy at some point so that others can root for Amy Anne.

The plot of this novel may reach some ridiculous extremes. But it's ridiculous in the same way as the beloved Frindle. It is altogether compelling and charming. We see Amy Anne learning about censorship and freedom of expression. We see an exploration of the way we judge others without knowing their stories. Gratz subtly explores value judgments. And most importantly, the message of the novel is clear without becoming exceedingly repetitive. Gratz leads us to the desired conclusion without beating us over the head with it. I would easily recommend this book to any 3rd-6th grader.

I enjoyed the story line of students banning together to read, share and talk about banned books. I loved how they worked together to put a stop to the unreasonable banning of books. I felt the characters were not acting as 4th graders but more like middle schoolers.