Sponsored by Inkyard Press.
Adam Stillwater is in over his head. His family’s pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to save it. Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her boyfriend dumped her. And now she spends most of her time running social media for her dad’s gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with the old pinball arcade across town. But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped together. What will happen when the storm stops?
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. By the time you read this newsletter, it will be after Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone had a relaxing day with loved ones and good food. Anyone else stuck working the day after Thanksgiving or is it just me? Typically our Black Fridays at the library have been very slow, and I hope the same holds true this year.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
Lawmakers expand their inquiry into the library eBook market.
Republican proudly claims credit after violent threats shut down the Denton Public Library’s Rainbow StoryTime.
Senator Ted Cruz goes after the Library of Congress for dropping the subject heading “illegal alien.” (Okay, Ted…)
Library staff in Salem, Oregon report that their Covid concerns were dismissed by a now-resigned city librarian.
In happier news, the first Drag Queen Story Time in Jonesboro, AR drew a good crowd and helped create a safe space for youth.
And in Pennsylvania, donations flood the Fulton County Library after elected officials called a local LGBTQ community a hate group.
Worth Reading
Has the culture war come for libraries?
Book Adaptations in the News
Augustine Frizzell will be directing the upcoming Invisible Life of Addie LaRue film.
Marie Lu’s YA fantasy novel, Legend, is getting a TV adaptation.
Jesse Eisenberg joins Lizzy Caplan in the Fleishman is in Trouble adaptation.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Banned & Challenged Books
Librarians fight book bans with a Twitter takeover.
More Republican leaders try to ban books on race, LGBTQ issues.
Texas schools respond to the House inquiry on library books about sexuality, race.
Clear Creek ISD (TX) is revising practices for student access to books, including Sex is a Funny Word.
A group of Katy ISD (TX) parents want supposed “porn” pulled from libraries, and are calling for an audit of district libraries.
Katy ISD makes 6 books unavailable to students.
Lamar CISD (TX) is reviewing a list of books for inappropriate content.
Keller ISD (TX) parents call on the school board to remove sexually explicit books or resign.
League City (TX) councilman Justin Hicks calls for the book Sex is a Funny Word to be removed from the public library.
Parents want Canutillo ISD (TX) to ban Gender Queer from the school library.
Tyler ISD (TX) parents compared certain books in the school libraries to content found in Penthouse.
The Texas book ban would cost school districts millions of dollars in staff time as they evaluate and audit their collections.
The Pflugerville Public Library (TX) shared a photo of what their shelves would look like if they removed all the books that might offend someone.
Texas librarians are on the front lines in a battle for the right to read.
Fort Mill (SC) school libraries will not return Gender Queer to the shelves.
Book ban battle headed to the Georgia General Assembly.
Parents file criminal police reports against the Howard County Public School System in Maryland, as well as the county Board of Education regarding sexually-explicit materials in public schools.
Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) have returned Gender Queer and Lawn Boy to the shelves after temporarily removing them for review.
At least 12 Victoria County (VA) residents have filed official complaints about LGBTQ books in the Victoria Public Library and are requesting that they be removed.
The Spotsylvania (VA) School Board rescinds its previous book ban.
Librarians warn of a threat to intellectual freedom in Virginia schools.
Downers Grove (IL) high school students show up to the school board meeting to defend Gender Queer.
Lake Forest High School (IL) creates a book review committee in response to local “rumblings” about Gender Queer and Lawn Boy, although no formal complaints have been received yet.
A Detroit school district pushes back against anti-CRT legislation.
Mississippi Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against Springfield Public Schools amidst a CRT probe.
Liberty School District (MO) community members push back against calls to have certain books removed from its libraries.
The North Kansas City School District is returning Not All Boys are Blue and Fun Home to library shelves after receiving a letter from the ACLU of Missouri.
Copies of at least nine books have been removed from libraries at four high schools in the Canyons School District (UT): The Bluest Eye, Beyond Magenta, Monday’s Not Coming, Out of Darkness, The Opposite of Innocent, Lawn Boy, Lolita, Gender Queer, and L8R G8R.
Sonya Sones, author of The Opposite of Innocent, says that her book was written to help combat sexual abuse against teens.
Parents and students in Lawrence County, OH discuss the controversial book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
The ImagineIF library system in Montana is currently reviewing Gender Queer and Lawn Boy after receiving formal complaints.
All Boys Aren’t Blue has been permanently banned from Indian River County (FL) schools, and others have been temporarily removed as the district plans to review their content.
The Pinellas School District (FL) has removed Gender Queer from the shelves for review after hearing complaints from community members.
Flagler County (FL) School Board member Cheryl Massaro rebukes her fellow school board member Jill Woolbright over “rogue” attacks on books and the superintendent.
Meanwhile, the Flagler Sheriff says that the schools didn’t break any laws by having Not All Boys Are Blue on the shelf.
Brevard County (FL) public schools remove Gender Queer from library shelves without review.
Anchorage, AK schools remove Gender Queer from school shelves.
5 ways to fight back against school and local library censorship.
Librarians and educators warn of “organized” book banning efforts.
North Carolina is vulnerable to a dangerous new book banning wave.
“My school board’s rejection of “sexually explicit” books sends a cruel message to students like my daughter.”
The hate they censor: Purging KKK truth and Angie Thomas to bury lessons of history.
Books & Authors in the News
Nobel winner Orhan Pamuk is under investigation again for “insulting Turkishness.”
Caroline Todd, who wrote mystery novels with her son under the pen name Charles Todd, has died at 86.
Award News
The National Book Award winners have been announced!
Barnes & Noble names The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney as their 2021 Book of the Year.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
A close look at the world of ghost writers.
A contrary view of book clubs.
Life’s too short to finish books you don’t like.
A brief history of literary cats.
On the Riot
The things this Rioter learned during their first nine weeks as a school librarian.
Bella de Costa Greene, the world’s most glamorous librarian.
How to audit your reading life.
Why this reader took reading apps off their phone.
We mustache you a question: what are the best mustaches on book covers for Movember?
The first two episodes of our new podcast Adaptation Nation are live! Listen to us chat all things TV and film adaptations of your favorite books.
Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll see you next week! (And don’t forget Book Riot is hiring for an Advertising Sales Manager! This could be you!)
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.