Answers in the Pages is middle grade fiction that tackles topics like censorship and LGBTQIA+ inclusion in classrooms. David Levithan is no stranger to having his books land on a "challenged" or "banned" list. I think that's why Answers in the Pages feels so authentic.
It all starts when Mr. Howe assigns The Adventurers to his 5th grade class. Donovan and his friends have barely started reading the book when his mother decides it's inappropriate. She marches down to the principal's office and demands it be removed from the curriculum. *insert intense eye roll here*
If there's one thing I know about readers, it's this....if you ban a book, we're all going to read it to find out what's so bad about it. Which is exactly what the students in Mr. Howe's class do. They've been told that the main characters are gay, and not just two best friends going on adventures together. They argue that with the parental interruption, many of them never got to read the book from any other perspective.
There's talk of rallying the troops against this homosexual book. There are even accusations that the school board is allowing an openly gay teacher to indoctrinate their children. I don't know if it's like this everywhere, but I've heard those exact phrases when books at my own school were being challenged.
This book really shows who is affected when things like this are brought up in such a public forum. It hurts everyone when books are challenged or banned. It creates a stigma for LGBTQIA+ kids who are still trying to figure who they are. I have high hopes for the generation going through school in the 2020s. They're going to break the cycle.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me an e-arc of this book!
Answers in the Pages by David Levithan comes out May 10, 2022!
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