I recently finished Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller. At first, I found myself rolling my eyes at this book. It seemed like such a fantastical fiction. I couldn’t fathom that there were people who didn’t know about Anne Frank, but I also don’t know much about small town living. I set my reservations aside and kept reading. If you want to keep reading, just know there are plenty of spoilers ahead.
I suppose, it’s possible that some people didn’t learn about historic figures of literature from their schooling or upbringing. Much of what we learn, particularly early in life, is a product of our environment and our interests.
As I continued to read the book and place my self in the small town that was described, I had one thought, “Ugh, I’d hate to live there. I would leave expeditiously.” Lol, but I kept going. I placed myself in the small town and acted as an outside observer. The town was such an insular bubble, which was fascinating. It also resonated that people who ended up leaving, such as Mitch, still held onto the beliefs and learnings gleaned from their formative years.
I’m glad that it shed a light on the danger of letting one belief system and way of thinking take over a school or library system. This book was published in 2024, which is correct. I think I’ve been hearing about book burning or censoring for at least the last 10 years. It’s sad that as a society, we can’t see the merit in allowing people to read and learn from those who have different cultural backgrounds, ideologies, or lived experiences than our own. To that point, I’m glad I read the book and now have a more enlightened perspective on the nature of some people’s lives, particularly growing up in a very small town.
Some of the not real books in this book, should be real books. Lol. A Girl’s Guide to the Revolution would be a banger. I’m here for this. Plase sign me up for All Women are Witches: Find Your Power and Put it to Use. Also, becuase of this book, I realized I need to read The Diary of a Young Girl and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I appreciate this book for showing me what can happen if we don’t seek to learn or ask questions. It also shows the power of bigotry and fear.
I enjoyed how the book highlighted the transformation in people and communities that can take place once your eyes are open to the lived experiences and plight of those that are different than you. Also, asking more questions and seeking more answers helps us all much more than living a life of assumptions. I hope that we, as an American society, can open ourselves up to new experiences and not continue living in the insular bubbles that we’ve created. Our society has a long way to go, with regards to race relations and acceptance of people from different backgrounds and this book sheds a little glimmer of hope on what is to come in my hopeful vision for the future.
Have you read this book? What were your takeaways from it?
Leave a Reply