Tweens Talk Banned Books
Grades 4-6
December 15th at 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Virtual
Registration required. Register here.

Note: All of our youth-focused virtual programs require a registered Zoom account to attend. Sign up for a free Zoom account here: http://zoom.us/signup.

As cases of censorship have grown more widespread throughout the U.S., the Library has kicked off a year-long celebration of banned books – #WPFreedomToRead – that started during Banned Books Week (September 18-24 2022.) The Library’s celebration of banned books will feature a variety of programs for adults, teens, and children throughout the year.

Join us at the Trove for a monthly virtual book club designed for tweens in grades 4-6, Tweens Talk Banned Books, to discuss challenged books!  Our monthly book discussion series seeks to engage in open and honest conversations about diverse books and sometimes difficult material as an alternative to book banning. There will be a trivia game (with a sweet treat for the winners!), and we will provide a free copy of the book to the first eight individuals to register for the Zoom discussion. When the books are available, we will email to arrange pickup; please list an email address when registering.

For Universal Human Rights Month, our December pick is Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. You can place a hold on the print book with your library card here, the eBook on Libby here, or the audiobook on Libby here.

Amal’s dream of becoming a teacher is dashed in an instant when she unwittingly insults a member of her Pakistani village’s ruling family and is forced to work at their estate. Navigating the rules of life as a servant gets even more complicated when the family matriarch seems to make a favorite of Amal, causing friction and jealousy among her fellow servants. More troubling, though, is Amal’s increasing awareness of the deadly measures the Khan family will resort to in order to protect their interests – and her growing realization that she will have to find a way to work with the others if they are ever going to break the system that oppresses them.

Amal Unbound is one of the many, many books that were banned in York County, but it has also won a plethora of awards and honors – including a YALSA Top Pick for Reluctant Readers, a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2018, a Nerdies Award, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2018, and a selection for over 20 state reading lists – and received starred reviews from both Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews.

Aisha Saeed is an award-winning and bestselling author of books for multiple ages, from picture books to young adult novels and short story collections. She co-founded the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books, and lives in Georgia with her family. You can read more about her on her website here.

This program is made possible with support from the White Plains Library Foundation.