I can now say that I have read a graphic book, as in one with illustrations as integral to the storytelling. Until reading Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe I had not picked up what to me is an adult comic book, mainly because my eye goes to words before pictures. Indeed, I often skim the pictures on a page or simply don’t look at them. So it took some concentration for me to be sure to actually look at the depicted content as well as the words on the page. I’m glad I did!

I adore the book I read this week! Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is a sweet young adult romance between two sixteen-year-old kids. Eleanor lives with her mother, abusive stepfather, and her siblings in a small house in a poor neighborhood. Park lives with his parents and brother in a nicer house in the same neighborhood. They attend the same school, and meet when Eleanor gets on the school bus for the first time. She ends up sitting with him because there’s nowhere else for her to sit. That awkward meetup evolves into so very much more.

I enjoyed this week’s banned book, Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff. I never know what to expect when picking up a new author to me, but I will say the story was a fresh take on a layer of society I know little about. This is a coming of age story about a girl maturing through a new awareness of the people in her life. Let me explain… The main character, Annabelle, starts sixth grade with expectations of the sameness of her school. Same teachers, same topics, etc. Only to find a new student, Bailey, has moved into town.

The next novel on my list is actually a book-length poem in free style verse. It’s another book by Ellen Hopkins, Crank. After reading this book, I can see it for what the author intended it to be: a cautionary tale. Indeed, she states in her Author’s Note, “If this story speaks to you, I have accomplished what I set out to do. Crank is, indeed, a monster—one the is tough to leave behind once you invite it into your life. Think twice. Then think again.” In other words, don’t even start.

Reading from a list of books generated by someone else always leads to reading something outside my wheelhouse. This week’s book, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson is one fine example of that. The reason why is that this is a memoir written by a young man in his thirties about his life up to that point. You might wonder how he’d have much to say, so let me explain what I discovered. I don’t typically read memoirs, so it was an interesting switch for me. I have read biographies about famous people, but not their memoirs.

The fifth novel on the below list that I’m going to talk about today is Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. I really should have known simply by the title what the book was all about, but I didn’t attempt to prejudge the contents based on the title. Hopkins really did have the perfect title for this book, especially knowing from her author note that she was exploring the reasons for teenage prostitution through her fiction as inspired by statistics regarding the same topic. She succeeded in her aim, as far as I can tell.

I have to admit that I didn’t really know what to expect from Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give. I’d heard of the movie but didn’t delve any further into what the story is about. I really enjoyed reading this story for several reasons. First, the authentic voice of the main character, Starr Carter, as she works through her totally understandable emotional reaction to the murder of her best friend. Thomas captured the pain and the anger along with the grief of Starr. I could feel her pain. I even cried along with her.

The third book on my list of banned books that I’m going to read has a somewhat humorous title. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a somewhat lighthearted look at a serious situation. The main character, Junior, lives on an Indian reservation and attends a school in a neighboring town. Why is that serious? The boy considers himself a part-time Indian because he’s one of only a very few who attend the school off the reservation. His Indian neighbors on the reservation consider him to have betrayed his nationality and them in particular by having “gone off the reservation.” He ends up feeling less Indian the farther from his home he goes.

This week’s read was the second most banned book in Alabama, Looking for Alaska by John Green. I’m jumping into reading these books without delving into what they are about. I want to just experience the story without any preconceived concept of what to expect. Looking for Alaska touched me in many ways. This story is a coming of age story. The main character, Miles, is 16 years old and attends his first year at a boarding school in Alabama. This story is one of self-discovery, hard lessons learned, and a new understanding of what friendship means.

Last time I introduced a new series of articles I’m beginning about my thoughts on banned books, especially the top 25 banned in Alabama, where I live. The complete list is below, which will be updated with the link to each related post as I go through the list. I don’t know that I’ll do all of these, mainly because I’m not an expert on children’s lit (board books, etc.). I prefer works for older audiences, young adult and up. But we’ll see. I may read the board books with an eye as a parent, since my husband and I raised two kids to be self-sufficient adults.

19 likes, 0 comments - qplteens on October 10, 2025: "#Shoutout to our amazing #QPLTeens and staff at #CambriaHeights for their work on #BannedBooks merch using @cricut heat press technology! Books a...

1,121 likes, 7 comments - americanlibraryassociation on October 8, 2025: "The American Library Association tracks attempts to ban or censor books in libraries and schools across the U.S. We compile re...