Banned Books Characters
The Mugshots Of Fictional Characters From Famous Banned Books
To celebrate banned books week, Tumblr user Jubilantics has created mugshots of characters in famous banned books.
From crowd favorite Harry Potter to American classics like The Catcher In The Rye and Their Eyes Were Watching God, these thought-provoking illustrations make us think of the role of books and how they have shaped us.
Check them out!
Celebrate the Freedom to Read With CBLDF’s New Banned Books Week Handbook!
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to release its first-ever Banned Books Week Handbook! Boasting a cover by Jeff Smith, whose Bone series is one of America’s most frequently challenged books, the CBLDF Banned Books Week Handbook is a free resource that gives you the scoop about what comics are banned, how to report and fight censorship, and how to make a celebration of Banned Books Week in your community! The CBLDF Banned Books Week Handbook premieres today at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Read on …
Celebrating the Freedom to Read
Banned Books Week
September 21-27, 2014
More new books have arrived!
Island of Excess Love by Francesca Block
In The Island of Excess Love, Pen has lost her parents. She’s lost her eye. But she has fought Kronen; she has won back her fragile friends and her beloved brother. Now Pen, Hex, Ash, Ez, and Venice are living in the pink house by the sea, getting by on hard work, companionship, and dreams. Until the day a foreboding ship appears in the harbor across from their home. As soon as the ship arrives, they all start having strange visions of destruction and violence. Trance-like, they head for the ship and their new battles begin.
This companion to Love in the Time of Global Warming follows Pen as she searches for love among the ruins, this time using Virgil’s epic Aeneid as her guide. A powerful and stunning book filled with Francesca Lia Block’s beautiful language and inspiring characters.
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 10 Up—It’s been several months since Pen reunited with her friends and brother at the conclusion of Love in the Time of Global Warming (Holt, 2013). The time since then has been spent peacefully, and they are growing food and making do with meager supplies. But when an empty ship appears in the waters outside her family home, Pen begins to have visions of a destiny she’s not eager to explore. Despite misgivings, the group has no choice but to flee to the ship when pursued by a Giant. After a perilous journey, they end up on an island with a boy king who is skilled at illusions. He believes Pen is his queen. Pen’s lover, Hex, disagrees, but Pen and the others are under the king’s spell. Can they save their friendship and survive a journey through the underworld? The language and imagery are beautiful but haunting. This time, the story parallels Virgil’s The Aeneid, and the characters turn to the epic poem for guidance while also seeing it as an omen. This novel is for mature readers, as there are some graphic love scenes. For fans of the first book, this will be a treat, but new readers should check out the previous installment.—Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ
From Booklist
In this companion to Love in the Time of Global Warming (2013), Block returns to her postapocalyptic setting. Pen; her little brother, Venice; her lover, Hex; and their friends Ez and Ash are living peacefully in a pink house by the sea when a giant appears and the group flees to a boat that proves to be bewitched and piloted by ghosts. Ultimately they are delivered to the Island of Excess Love, where the island’s antler-headed king welcomes Pen as his queen. Events conspire to send them fleeing again, this time to the Island of the Shades, where they descend into the underworld—which has a queen of its own. Will they be doomed to an eternal waking death? Just as Block’s earlier novel was loosely based on The Odyssey, this is even more loosely based on The Aeneid. The result is a mesmerizing, magical, and mysterious tale of love and loss, stories and visions, and betrayal and redemption, all told in the author’s signature lyrical voice. Grades 9-12. –Michael Cart
The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan by Atia Abawi
An eye-opening, heart-rending tale of love, honor and betrayal from veteran foreign news correspodent Atia Abawi
Fatima is a Hazara girl, raised to be obedient and dutiful. Samiullah is a Pashtun boy raised to defend the traditions of his tribe. They were not meant to fall in love. But they do. And the story that follows shows both the beauty and the violence in current-day Afghanistan as Fatima and Samiullah fight their families, their cultures and the Taliban to stay together. Based on the people Atia Abawi met and the events she covered during her nearly five years in Afghanistan, this stunning novel is a must-read for anyone who has lived during America’s War in Afghanistan.
Perfect for fans of Patricia McCormick, Linda Sue Park, and Khaled Hosseini, this story will stay with readers for a long time to come.
Praise for THE SECRET SKY
* “Disturbing depictions of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against women, men, and children, both within families and between different groups, contrast with extravagant acts of courage, kindness, and sacrifice….A suspenseful, enlightening, and hopeful love story.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Riveting plot, sympathetic characters and straightforward narration studded with vivid, authentic detail: a top choice.”–Kirkus Reviews
“[The Secret Sky is] a tale of the indomitable Afghan spirit of hope and love. Among the many novels set in Afghanistan for young people or for adults, The Secret Sky stands alone. Unputdownable. Unforgettable.”–Trent Reedy, author of Words in the Dust
“The Secret Sky brilliantly captures the magic and the heartbreak of Afghanistan as only someone rooted in its mystery can….This first novel by a top foreign correspondent has the authenticity of raw journalism and the poetry of a gifted writer. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the contradictions of the Afghan soul.”–Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and anchor of Andrea Mitchell Reports
“A riveting tale written from the heart….This powerful love story will leave you angry at injustice, and awed by courage. It shocks and inspires.”–Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC
“The Secret Sky is an amazing combination of utterly searing and beautifully romantic. It was like reading The Kite Runner—a gripping story that gave insight to this brutal yet magical culture.”–Daphne Benedis-Grab, author of The Girl in the Wall
Branigan Library Teens 