Our September Book Club will be discussing Banned or Challenged Books on September 16-17, just ahead of Banned Book Week (September 18-24, 2022).
Forty years ago, Banned Book Week began as a response to a sudden surge in book challenges in 1982. With the current push to limit access to books dealing with sexuality, gender identity, and race, we asked you what you wanted to read; and we’ve tallied up the votes for the top three. The books selected for our discussion come from a variety of challenges, from
- Lawmakers attempting to ban The 1619 Project from schools for being a “racially divisive and revisionist” account of United States history,
- Charges of violations of obscenities laws for All Boys Aren’t Blue, to
- Inclusion of profanity and accusations of promoting an anti-police message for The Hate U Give.
Read more about each selection below, and find out about how #CannonBookClub works. To get the latest CBR news and find out about future surveys, sign up for our newsletter.
September Book Club Choices
All Synopses from Goodreads.
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story builds on The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project,” which reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This book substantially expands on the original “1619 Project,” weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This legacy can be seen in the way we tell stories, the way we teach our children, and the way we remember. Together, the elements of the book reveal a new origin story for the United States, one that helps explain not only the persistence of anti-Black racism and inequality in American life today, but also the roots of what makes the country unique.
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
How #CannonBookClub Works
Now that the books are announced, there are just over two months to read any of the selections above—you can read one, you can read all, it’s completely up to you. We encourage everyone to write and post reviews sometime before Book Club convenes on September 16. Make sure to tag your post with the CannonBookClub tag to make your review discoverable with the other book club reviews. Even if you can’t get your review up in time, you are welcome to chime in on our Discussion Posts which will go live on September 16, at our Zoom Meeting on September 17, time TBD, or in any of our social media.
Suggestions on Where to Find the Books
We love libraries! We know the eBook and Audiobook versions are available in Overdrive via the Libby app for The 1619 Project and The Hate U Give, but make sure you check your options soon – many challenged books have become popular with local libraries and there may be waitlists. You can always choose to buy a copy if you like, and we like Bookshop.org since they support independent booksellers. Or, if you purchase your book club selection(s) (or anything else) via this Amazon link, you can now select Cannonball Read as your Amazon Smile recipient, and we’ll get 0.5% of eligible purchases.
Did I miss something? Feel free to post your questions or comments about #CannonBookClub below.
