Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write.

Everyone in town knows and fears Ms. Laura Samuel Sett. She is the town watchdog, always on the lookout for unsavory words and the unsavory people who use them.

She is also Mac’s sixth-grade teacher.

Mac and his friends are outraged when they discovered that their class copies of Jane Yolen’s THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC have certain works blacked out. Mac has been raised by his mom and grandad to call out things that are wrong, so he and his friends head to the principal’s office to protest the censorship. Her response isn’t reassuring — so the protest grows.

In ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLES, acclaimed author A.S. King shows all the ways truth can be hard… but still worth fighting for.

My Review

“I think lies are the same as crossing out words in a book. I mean, isn’t it a lie to think you know better than everyone else?”

Book banning is one thing that really gets me angry. I just don’t understand why you would want to take books out of people’s hands because they go against whatever rule you think that they break. I was taught early on in life that if I don’t agree with something, I can act as if it doesn’t exist. Don’t like it? Don’t look at it! Why can’t everyone take that lead?

I’ve got a tale for you all about me being screamed at for the Library I work for posting about banned books. I guess this guy didn’t get the memo about the Library being a place for everyone… That my friends is a story for another day.

This book was so good and it made me emotional. I’m sitting here trying not to cry at my desk. Mac and his friends stood up for what they believed in and it made banned books week even more powerful. The family closeness, the deep bonding friendships, and sticking together in the worst of times made this an inspiring tale. I really loved this book and everyone should read this.

Attack of the Black Rectangles was such an amazing read. It truly made me want to sit here and cry. We as a society should not be telling people what they can and can’t read. Let the reader decide and then they can make an opinion. I’m proud to say that my parents encouraged me to be my true self and to read what makes me happy. Everyone should get that opportunity to feel that freedom.