A review by ryanwriter
Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

5.0

Excellent picture book about falling in love in the midst of such a terrible injustice. And today Scholastic showed their moral cowardice by wanting to license the book if the author censored her afterword (https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1169848627/scholastic-childrens-book-racism) of mentions of racism. The US government, starting under President Carter, then continuing under President Reagan admitted that the mass incarceration of American citizens was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2007-pt3/html/CRECB-2007-pt3-Pg3719.htm) The record shows that the point of the legislation and the Day of Remembrance was about learning, reconciliation, and healing. A quote from the record, by Mr. Honda, "It is critical that we educate all Americans of the Japanese American experience during World War II, as well as the experience of other Americans, like the Japanese Latin Americans." Scholastic isn't interested in educating anyone, or in respecting those wronged in this country—if they were, they wouldn't have made the author an offer contingent on censoring what she wrote.