Fangirl - by Rainbow Rowell

Cath and her twin sister Wren are starting college at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, but in different dorms. Cath is less than thrilled about this arrangement and is more than a bit intimidated by her roommate Reagan. At least she still has her fanfiction to disappear into. Cath and Wren used to write Simon Snow fanfiction together, but Wren lost interest and Cath now writes on her own. 

After getting special permission to take a 300-level fiction writing class Cath meets Nick and the two become writing partners. Nick works at Love Library "(That was the actual name; thank you for your donation, Mayor Don Lathrop Love)" shelving books, although he clearly doesn't take the job seriously enough. He left a cart full of books at the end of his shift because he was doing his homework instead of shelving. When Cath points this out he assures her that "the morning girl can do it. It'll remind her that she's alive". This turns out to be a bit of foreshadowing as we discover that Nick is all to happy to take credit for work that women do.

Cath mostly holds her own in the upper-level writing class, but is taken aback by an accusation of plagiarism when she uses some of her fan fiction as a basis for one of the writing assignments. Her professor is understanding, but will not change the failing grade, or allow Cath to rewrite the assignment. I disagree that what Cath turned in was plagiarized. If she had turned in the same story and used different character names her professor would probably never have realized. Also, I turned in a similar assignment myself as a graduate student (re-wrote a scene from a novel from a different character's point of view). My professor loved it. I got an A.

Cath spends a lot of time in the library, and her full nerd-dom is clear when we discover that she has a bit of a fantasy about "being trapped in a library overnight." She even writes a Simon Snow scene that takes place between the stacks.

Cath finds love (or something like it) with Levi. One of their early bonding experiences involves Cath reading The Outsiders aloud to Levi who has trouble with reading to himself. And really who doesn't love The Outsiders? I've said it before and I'll say it again: reading aloud with another person is never a bad idea. You will always have something to talk about.

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey : Crazy Stories about Racism - by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

Sisters Ruffin and Lamar grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Their cringeworthy anecdotes about race and racism focus mainly on Lamar's experiences working there, but also about growing up in Omaha in the '80s and '90s. The audiobook is read by the authors and it is well worth a listen. The sisters laugh together and enjoy some easy banter as they tell their tales.

Of course any library tale will pique my interest. There was only one in this book, but it caused me to do a lot of thinking. It centered on Ruffin's elementary school library. A lover of arts and crafts, Ruffin borrowed a craft book that included instructions for making a Gollywog doll. She was unaware of the racist nature of the craft and innocently asked her mother about making one. Her mother's swift response included not only a call to the school librarian to complain, but also an admonishment to her daughter to use only the books they had at home from then on.

As I said, I had to think about this episode quite a bit to determine what to say about it, especially in light of the wave of book banning happening across the country. I will begin by saying that Ruffin's mother was perfectly within her rights to contact the school and complain about the book. Furthermore, schools should have processes in place for book reconsideration, and they in fact count on parents to bring books to their attention that may not belong in the collection. Not all book removal constitutes book banning. Books are discarded from libraries for a myriad of reasons. Perhaps they are out of date, worn out, or otherwise no longer appropriate for a particular audience or collection. "Weeding" is part of the process of keeping a library relevant.  

However, removal of individual titles, with cause, is not what we are witnessing in schools today. Instead hundreds of books that the censors have not read are being summarily removed from classrooms and school libraries (and indeed public libraries). Those who would remove books from libraries under the guise of "parental rights" are full of shit. They already have the right to request that their child not have access to certain books. Meanwhile, they are preventing other parents who would like their children to have access from doing so. 

I was surprised that Ruffin's mother told her daughter not to use the library any more over this one incident. Of course any parent can contact their child's school and request that they not be allowed to check out specific books (or any books for that matter), and they are also within their rights to tell their own child not to use the library any more. I would argue, however, that students should be given (relatively) unrestricted access to their school and public libraries. Young people need to be able to explore difficult topics at their own pace. Librarians, teachers, and parents can be guides but ultimately everyone should be able to access the information they need when they need it - without judgement.  See my post Why I Let my Daughter Read Twilight Books for additional thoughts on this. (Note that the post is 10 years old and my "daughter" now identifies as non-binary and uses he/him pronouns).

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is the One Book One Community selection for the Bridgewaters for summer 2023.