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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
June follows all the rules at school and doesn't do anything wrong, her parents are really strick and she complies with all their rules. However, one day she comes home to find her parents really angry with a book she has been reading and they deem inappropriate. Their ban stetches to not only June's personal library but to the school library as well.
June is astonished and feels that not only she but other kids are being unfairly treated. On her way to school one day she finds a little free library that has books she and others would want to read, there is also a unsused lockery next to hers in school that she uses to hide the books she picks from the free library. As people she knows start to realise June has books they want to read, they ask to borrow them, a library starts and she becomes popular.
June has to work out who her real friends are and what is she willing to do to keep helping others to read.
A really good book, with good characters and plot.
Would highly recommend.
June is astonished and feels that not only she but other kids are being unfairly treated. On her way to school one day she finds a little free library that has books she and others would want to read, there is also a unsused lockery next to hers in school that she uses to hide the books she picks from the free library. As people she knows start to realise June has books they want to read, they ask to borrow them, a library starts and she becomes popular.
June has to work out who her real friends are and what is she willing to do to keep helping others to read.
A really good book, with good characters and plot.
Would highly recommend.
This book prompted me to pick it up with the title. It is about censorship that is taking place in schools. The right to read is alive and well in this book, when mild mannered June Harper, brings home a book that her parents find questionable. They march to the school which causes further book banning and the discipline of June’s favorite teacher, Ms. Bradshaw, the school librarian. This in turn causes June to become, The Rebel Librarian. Good book!
I really liked Property Of The Rebel Librarian! I love the story, and I loved June and how having a library and being able to read what she wanted was really important to her.
When I was reading this book, I found myself angry at June's parents. Most of the books at her school library were gone, because they think a lot of books are inappropriate. What made me the angriest was that they went to the school, and had so many books removed. It's one thing if they decide they don't want June reading certain books, but to decide that for all of the kids in her school? That goes a little too far for me.
Also...the fact that they rip out pages of books she already owned and read and that they glued note cards to the pages of other books to change the story...I just had a hard time completely understanding why they would go to that length to make sure she's not reading something they deem inappropriate. I guess I don't understand why they'd even give the books back to her at that point.
Still, I can believe that parents would edit books so their kids don't read something "bad" and try to get books removed the library (or remove the librarian from the school) for the good of the children.
I just love June so much, and the school librarian was awesome! It's clear that the librarian encouraged kids to read, and had a lot of recommendations for her students. What happened to her was sad, and I loved seeing June and her school take a stand. June reminds me of myself, and I love that she became a rebel librarian. I also loved that she wanted to be a librarian after everything that happened.
Also, I loved that a lot of the students started reading because of the restrictions in place. These are kids who know what they like, and have a pretty good idea of what books they want to read. They are kids who want- and are more than capable- of making their own decisions about their reading material. I hated seeing that choice taken away because of a few parents. I'm glad they took action, even when parents and the school administration didn't want them to.
My Rating: 4 stars. Though a few characters (like June's parents) made me really angry, I also really liked June and seeing her find her calling as a future librarian. There were times where it seemed more YA than middle grade, but overall, this is a great book for everyone who loves reading!
When I was reading this book, I found myself angry at June's parents. Most of the books at her school library were gone, because they think a lot of books are inappropriate. What made me the angriest was that they went to the school, and had so many books removed. It's one thing if they decide they don't want June reading certain books, but to decide that for all of the kids in her school? That goes a little too far for me.
Also...the fact that they rip out pages of books she already owned and read and that they glued note cards to the pages of other books to change the story...I just had a hard time completely understanding why they would go to that length to make sure she's not reading something they deem inappropriate. I guess I don't understand why they'd even give the books back to her at that point.
Still, I can believe that parents would edit books so their kids don't read something "bad" and try to get books removed the library (or remove the librarian from the school) for the good of the children.
I just love June so much, and the school librarian was awesome! It's clear that the librarian encouraged kids to read, and had a lot of recommendations for her students. What happened to her was sad, and I loved seeing June and her school take a stand. June reminds me of myself, and I love that she became a rebel librarian. I also loved that she wanted to be a librarian after everything that happened.
Also, I loved that a lot of the students started reading because of the restrictions in place. These are kids who know what they like, and have a pretty good idea of what books they want to read. They are kids who want- and are more than capable- of making their own decisions about their reading material. I hated seeing that choice taken away because of a few parents. I'm glad they took action, even when parents and the school administration didn't want them to.
My Rating: 4 stars. Though a few characters (like June's parents) made me really angry, I also really liked June and seeing her find her calling as a future librarian. There were times where it seemed more YA than middle grade, but overall, this is a great book for everyone who loves reading!
Hovering somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, my review bumps up to 3 to give Property of the Rebel Librarian extra credit, as it were, for its pro-reading, anti-censorship, and pro-activism message, plus an amazing booklist (including many very recently published titles) to inspire students who want to read excellent, commonly challenged books.
What I loved:
A heroine who employs a combination of civil disobedience, networking, and effective public speaking to try to effect real change in her community, a great example for students about finding one's own voice and standing up for strongly held values and beliefs, even when that stance breaks rules or even disobeys parents.
What I liked:
June was confronted with the choice of conforming to a boy who tried to control her and insisted she compromise her values or breaking it off with a popular boy who liked her. Great example for young kids, boys and girls alike.
What didn't work:
June's parents. They are simultaneously loving and over-the-top abusively controlling. It stretches credulity that they would out of nowhere, all of a sudden, become completely obsessed with what June reads after they had previously given her complete freedom of choice, and after reading one objectionable book, remove all books from her room and end up closing down the school library and getting the librarian fired, all in the span of a few days. Her parents were abusively controlling, gave over-the-top punishments, withdrew affection if their girls diverged from their insistence on their career choices, and yet we were treated to a number of scenes that seemed to soften them or normalize their abusive behavior. There was also no backstory to justify their bizarre behavior such as re-writing parts of books that they found objectionable.
What didn't work:
The romances. June is supposed to be in 7th grade? And a boy who likes her serenades her in public in a diner? It just didn't seem realistic.
What didn't work:
June's principal and teachers, the PTSO, and the school board in general. This is presumably a public school, and it's completely unrealistic that, based on one parent complaint about one book, the school would suddenly be overcome by rabidly pro-censorship parents who clear out the entire school library and go on a crusade to control their children's reading choices. It also takes book banning to an insane level to imagine that an entire faculty would be on board with confiscating all personal choice reading material from students during the school day.
While such extremes might get young readers more emotionally invested in the injustices that June and her friends face, they falsely suggest to students that this is what book banning and censorship really look like in public schools - and that, unfortunately, will prevent students from noticing how real censorship really looks. It's not a moving truck that dramatically shows up in front of your school one day, with cart-loads of books being removed en masse. It's the book with an LGBTQIA+ character that silently disappears from the shelf. It's the book with storyline about police brutality that never gets purchased at all. Most book challenges happen quietly and successfully because no one is paying attention.
Despite the fact that most of my words here were critical, I would still recommend the book to young readers. I am very surprised that both this book and Ban This Book were published within a year of each other, both featuring rebel libraries in lockers. I think Ban This Book was, overall, better executed, perhaps because the main character's parents were not behind the banning. Another book with a pro-reading, anti-censorship main character is welcome, however!
What I loved:
A heroine who employs a combination of civil disobedience, networking, and effective public speaking to try to effect real change in her community, a great example for students about finding one's own voice and standing up for strongly held values and beliefs, even when that stance breaks rules or even disobeys parents.
What I liked:
June was confronted with the choice of conforming to a boy who tried to control her and insisted she compromise her values or breaking it off with a popular boy who liked her.
Spoiler
She broke it off.What didn't work:
June's parents. They are simultaneously loving and over-the-top abusively controlling. It stretches credulity that they would out of nowhere, all of a sudden, become completely obsessed with what June reads after they had previously given her complete freedom of choice, and after reading one objectionable book, remove all books from her room and end up closing down the school library and getting the librarian fired, all in the span of a few days. Her parents were abusively controlling, gave over-the-top punishments, withdrew affection if their girls diverged from their insistence on their career choices, and yet we were treated to a number of scenes that seemed to soften them or normalize their abusive behavior. There was also no backstory to justify their bizarre behavior such as re-writing parts of books that they found objectionable.
What didn't work:
The romances. June is supposed to be in 7th grade? And a boy who likes her serenades her in public in a diner? It just didn't seem realistic.
What didn't work:
June's principal and teachers, the PTSO, and the school board in general. This is presumably a public school, and it's completely unrealistic that, based on one parent complaint about one book, the school would suddenly be overcome by rabidly pro-censorship parents who clear out the entire school library and go on a crusade to control their children's reading choices. It also takes book banning to an insane level to imagine that an entire faculty would be on board with confiscating all personal choice reading material from students during the school day.
While such extremes might get young readers more emotionally invested in the injustices that June and her friends face, they falsely suggest to students that this is what book banning and censorship really look like in public schools - and that, unfortunately, will prevent students from noticing how real censorship really looks. It's not a moving truck that dramatically shows up in front of your school one day, with cart-loads of books being removed en masse. It's the book with an LGBTQIA+ character that silently disappears from the shelf. It's the book with storyline about police brutality that never gets purchased at all. Most book challenges happen quietly and successfully because no one is paying attention.
Despite the fact that most of my words here were critical, I would still recommend the book to young readers. I am very surprised that both this book and Ban This Book were published within a year of each other, both featuring rebel libraries in lockers. I think Ban This Book was, overall, better executed, perhaps because the main character's parents were not behind the banning. Another book with a pro-reading, anti-censorship main character is welcome, however!
4.5 stars. Property of the Rebel Librarian is about a middle schooler who starts a secret library out of an old locker after her school begins a PTA-inspired book banning spree. There is so much to love about this book. It is very plot driven, making it an easy read and appealing to the target audience. Watching June go from "plain band girl" to rebelling against her parents for a good cause was inspiring. She is very relatable- like any budding teenager realizing that her parents are not always right.
Speaking of June's parents, and all the adults in the Dogwood community for that matter, they will make you want to scream. Throughout most of the book they are like caricatures of strict parents- controlling what their child reads, setting her up to be premed, trying to control their older daughter's major in college. However, Varnes writes a "overheard" conversation between them towards the end of the novel that shines some much needed light on their actions and develops them as characters.
Overall, I loved this book and watching June learn how to stand of for her beliefs even when they contradict everything she has thought about adults up until now.
Speaking of June's parents, and all the adults in the Dogwood community for that matter, they will make you want to scream. Throughout most of the book they are like caricatures of strict parents- controlling what their child reads, setting her up to be premed, trying to control their older daughter's major in college. However, Varnes writes a "overheard" conversation between them towards the end of the novel that shines some much needed light on their actions and develops them as characters.
Overall, I loved this book and watching June learn how to stand of for her beliefs even when they contradict everything she has thought about adults up until now.
I really enjoyed this book. Will probably order it for the library.
This book does a great job of introducing the topic of book censorship in a thoughtful way. I was rooting for June from the very beginning! The story is quick-paced, and it will be a great springboard for thought-provoking discussions among students.