contemporary fiction
As a Little Free Library steward, Kristen Miller's book, Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books, immediately
got my attention. I was smitten by the idea of the community coming
together to fight against book banning and the first chapter had me
laughing out loud. This book is a liberal revenge fantasy where the
young people are here to save us all. Miller paints a world in which a
good book in the right hands and a little bit of common sense can shame
and tame even the hardest of hearts or most hateful of individuals - or
at least save those who suffer from their ignorance and violence.
Honestly though, the book got tedious very quickly. As someone who is pretty darn liberal, it was was weird to think about how much this book is going to turn away about half the country almost immediately. Are you very conservative? Big fan of Fox News? You are not going to like this book one bit.
It was interesting to see it described as satire; I would not have categorized it that way with the exception of the first scenario with Wilma Jean Cummings, the 80-year old former attorney general. The topics Miller chooses to tackle through her characters are varied and serious though she does maintain a remarkably light tone in the face of such difficult subjects (topics include: rape, Nazis, racism, homophobia, slavery, suicide...). Some of the situations infuriated me more than others, but by the fifth or sixth scenario I found myself stuck thinking how awful the entire town is. They have chosen to elect and elevate the people they have; they have chosen to keep their secrets. And while I believe in the power of a good book to open hearts and minds, it really just seemed to trivialize some of these very serious situations.
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books will be published on June 18, 2024. Special thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Honestly though, the book got tedious very quickly. As someone who is pretty darn liberal, it was was weird to think about how much this book is going to turn away about half the country almost immediately. Are you very conservative? Big fan of Fox News? You are not going to like this book one bit.
It was interesting to see it described as satire; I would not have categorized it that way with the exception of the first scenario with Wilma Jean Cummings, the 80-year old former attorney general. The topics Miller chooses to tackle through her characters are varied and serious though she does maintain a remarkably light tone in the face of such difficult subjects (topics include: rape, Nazis, racism, homophobia, slavery, suicide...). Some of the situations infuriated me more than others, but by the fifth or sixth scenario I found myself stuck thinking how awful the entire town is. They have chosen to elect and elevate the people they have; they have chosen to keep their secrets. And while I believe in the power of a good book to open hearts and minds, it really just seemed to trivialize some of these very serious situations.
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books will be published on June 18, 2024. Special thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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