Sponsored by Not Okay by Brett Axel from Vinal Publishing.
After surviving a horrific childhood, Peter Wilson puts far too much faith in the pop psychology self-help book, I’m OK – You’re OK, to help him find normalcy, work a job, pay bills, and reconcile his sexuality with what had been done to him. He quickly learns the world has little tolerance for someone as wounded as Peter. When all else fails, he turns to wisecracks, his own tenacity, and a plan to hunt down and kill the pedophile who abused him.
Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend a book you should add to your TBR, STAT! I stan variety in all things, and my book recommendations will be no exception. These must-read books will span genres and age groups. There will be new releases, oldie but goldies from the backlist, and the classics you may have missed in high school. Oh my! If you’re ready to diversify your books, then LEGGO!!
Today is the second day of Banned Books Week, which began 40 years ago during a time of increased book challenges. In 1982, the Supreme Court case Island Trees School District v. Pico ruled school officials could not ban books in libraries simply based on their content. At BookExpo America in the same year, 500 banned books were showcased in large padlocked cages under signs warning attendants that some people considered these books dangerous. With that exhibit, an initiative was born, and the rest is history.
One aspect of Banned Books Week I enjoy the most is the list of the most frequently challenged books. It’s interesting to see both the evolution and the consistency year after year. Today’s recommendation The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was one of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books from 2017 to 2018.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives in a poor, mostly Black neighborhood and attends a fancy suburban prep school full of mostly White students. Those two worlds collide when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend Khalil by a police officer. His death becomes a national headline, and protesters take to the streets. Everyone wants to know what really happened that night. Starr is the only person alive who can tell the truth, but what she does (or doesn’t) say could upend her community and endanger her life.
The Hate U Give is as relevant today as it was when the book first published. I both loved and hated this novel for the same reason: It spoke nothing but facts about Black life in America. After I finished, I couldn’t stop the tears and knew this book should be required reading both inside and outside of the classroom. Put down To Kill a Mockingbird and pick up The Hate U Give because it’s time to normalize learning about the Black American experience from those who live it.
When published in 2017, The Hate U Give was about “Oscar. Aiyana. Trayvon. Rekia. Michael. Eric. Tamir. John. Ezell. Sandra. Freddie. Alton. Philando. It’s even about that little boy in 1955 who nobody recognized at first–Emmett.” In 2020, the list continues. It’s also about Ahmaud. Elijah. George. It is absolutely about a young woman named Breonna.
Until next time bookish friends,
Katisha
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