This Book Won't Burn

Starred review from February 26, 2024
Book banning, homophobia, and racism intersect as a newcomer confronts one small town’s “fascist BS” culture. Halfway through senior year, 18-year-old Chicagoan Noor Khan is devastated when her immigration-lawyer father “torched our lives” by abandoning the family. Their distraught mother moves Noor and her younger sister to conservative, rural Bayberry, Ill., for a fresh start. At Noor’s new, overwhelmingly white high school, a zealous school board led by politician Steve Hawley removes hundreds of books deemed pornographic. Activist-minded Noor notes that “they’re censoring practically all queer or BIPOC authors” and stages lunchtime banned book readings at a nearby park with new friends Faiz and Juniper. Though school administration disciplines Noor and hints at violence if she doesn’t comply, she continues hosting her book club in the evenings at a VFW hall until someone tossing a Molotov cocktail through the building’s window escalates events. Meanwhile, Noor’s growing feelings for Faiz are complicated by interest from charming, wealthy, and good-looking Andrew, who turns out to be Hawley’s stepson. Characters display resolute integrity and deliver dialogue that zings in this timely offering by Ahmed (the Amira & Hamza series), who employs high stakes, increasing tensions, romantic near-misses, and adult hypocrisy to powerful effect. Noor cues as Southeast Asian. Ages 12–up.

March 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 When Noor Khan's father abandons his family, her mother moves Noor and her younger sister from Chicago to a small town miles away, where the high school library is under siege by activists demanding the removal of around 500 books they deem "unsuitable."" Noor is quick to notice that most of the titles are by LGBTQ+ or BIPOC authors. Already considered "other" for her desi heritage, Noor had planned to fly under the radar for the last quarter of her senior year. Instead, she teams up with other marginalized students to fight the ban, locking horns with both the school principal and the chair of the school board. Noor is a feisty delight, taking on the activists with fervor and determination, supported by characters who are as lively and realistic as she is. Ahmed's writing is reminiscent of John Green's with its brightness, bounce, and clever and intelligent dialogue. The story is straight from the headlines, with a hopeful call for resistance, especially for teens dealing with book challenges in their own school libraries.

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March 15, 2024
Reeling from her father's sudden abandonment of their family, Noor's mother moves her family to a small Illinois town far away from their life in Chicago. Noor hopes to lie low and finish out the last quarter of her senior year, but she and her younger sister, Amal, are noticeably among the few Indian American and Muslim students at school. Once Noor learns that the school district has removed over 500 challenged books from the library shelves and slated them for committee review--mostly ones by marginalized writers--she feels compelled to act. She and her like-minded new friends protest by reading aloud from these books in public spaces. They also put up a "fREADom Library" (or Little Free Library for censored books), spreading the word on social media and encouraging others to join in. Their activism angers school administrators, students, and the local community. Along with their personal trauma, Noor's family must also deal with veiled threats, racist and Islamophobic slurs, and physical violence. The story centers on the hot-button issues of book banning and freedom of speech, while also exploring family dynamics, forging friendships, and a budding love triangle. Although the pacing is at times weighed down by the content, Ahmed inventively uses different formats--social media comments, news articles, transcripts of television broadcasts--to examine the racist ideologies and talking points behind censorship efforts. A timely story about silence as complicity, defending freedom, and the courage to fight against hate. (author's note, resources, bibliography) (Fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2024

Gr 10 Up-Ahmed continues to build a catalog of titles that leverage current events and social justice. Noor's world shifted when her father abandoned the family. Her mother moved Noor and her sister to a small town far from the bustling city they were used to. Now, Noor is one of only a few Muslim students in a small homogenous town, and her mere presence is news. Even more so when Noor speaks out upon discovering that library books are being pulled from the shelves. Noor's resonance is a testament to Ahmed's character-building and timely discourse on the subject. With a sense of predictability, the arc of the story is evenly paced to release maximum outrage and extol lessons in fairness and justice. Intensely invested in Noor's fight, readers weather the fight alongside her even when it endangers her family. These consequences are devastatingly realistic and heighten the emotional response that mirrors actual coverage of the newsworthy topic. It feels deeply personal, and to writers like Ahmed, the work is ongoing. VERDICT Ripped from the headlines, Ahmed's latest novel frames the fight against book banning as a hopeful endeavor in active civic engagement that a wide audience would benefit from reading.-Alicia Abdul

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