From the Washington Post’s book writer, Ron Charles:
I’ve read a lot of smart takes on censorship this year, but honestly the best thing I’ve run across recently is a new middle grade novel by Amy Sarig King called “Attack of the Black Rectangles.” The narrator is a sixth grader named Mac, a sensitive, curious kid with a tender heart and a strong sense of justice.
One day in school, the teacher hands out copies of “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” Jane Yolen’s 1988 novel about the Holocaust. While wrestling with the terrors of that story, a few students notice that certain words — like “breast” — have been blackened out with a Sharpie.
Offended by such censorship, Mac and his friends launch a crusade to defend their right to read. It’s a tough, often discouraging fight that brings the kids face-to-face with adults’ condescension and priggishness.
