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Summary
Summary
Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write.
When Mac first opens his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends discover what the missing words are, he's outraged.
Someone in his school is trying to prevent kids from reading the full story.
But who?
Even though his unreliable dad tells him to not get so emotional about a book (or anything else), Mac has been raised by his mom and grandad to call out things that are wrong. He and his friends head to the principal's office to protest the censorship... but her response doesn't take them seriously.
So many adults want Mac to keep his words to himself.
Mac's about to see the power of letting them out.
In Attack of the Black Rectangles , acclaimed author Amy Sarig King shows all the ways truth can be hard... but still worth fighting for.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up--King's latest novel is so timely and relevant, some readers may feel like the author has been privy to what's going on in their own schools. Mac is in the sixth grade and is a kid who knows his own mind. His teacher is known around town to be a strong, conservative influencer--for reasons that are never explained. Ms. Sett runs her classroom like she seems to run their small town, with antiquated rules and expectations. Girls aren't allowed to wear shorts to school and no junk food is available, and these are enforced city ordinances. Ms. Sett is a conundrum when she doesn't tolerate bullying and is an advocate of children but then censors books in her classroom including the book Mac is reading, The Devil's Arithmetic, in a literature circle. When Mac and his classmates find black marker has been used in all the books to mark out words thought to be inappropriate for sixth graders, Ms. Sett has gone too far (not even canceling Halloween got the kids as riled up as the "black rectangles"). While Mac and his friends work against censorship, Mac is also dealing with his father's mental illness. He has a good mom and grandad to support him when things get very confusing with his dad. Readers will find it easy to side with the outraged students and parents who go to the principal and then the school board to protest censorship and make sure the rules will protect everyone, and not just the opinions of one person. This title is slightly more sophisticated and mature than Alan Gratz's Ban This Book but is equally satisfying. VERDICT A striking book on censorship; a must-have in all middle grade classroom and school libraries.--Kim Gardner
Publisher's Weekly Review
Pennsylvania sixth graders battle classroom censorship in this uplifting middle grade novel by King (The Year We Fell From Space). At Independence Elementary, Mac Delaney and his friends Denis, who's loyal and has anxiety, and Marci, an outspoken feminist, are outraged to discover that someone has used "ugly black rectangle" to expurgate classroom copies of Jane Yolen's historical novel The Devil's Arithmetic. The trio suspects their teacher, Ms. Sett--she's always writing letters about banning junk food or insisting that local homes be painted white "to maintain the look of history"--so they show the selectively redacted text to their principal. Dr. McKenney also dismisses their concerns, however, making the kids even more determined to fight for the right to the "whole truth." Their campaign inspires some students to publicly discuss aspects of their lives, including a girl who reclaims her non-Anglicized name. But Mac struggles with internalized shame, secretly fearing he'll turn out like his callous, erratic father, a fear kindly explored by his keenly drawn Vietnam War veteran grandfather. King empathetically tackles the intersections of multiple sensitive topics--mental health, patriarchy and sexism, war's realities, whitewashed history--while educating readers on the power of protest and the benefits of living with grace. Protagonists cue as white. Ages 9--12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Sept.)
Booklist Review
In Printz Award--winning King's latest poignant, humorous, and bright middle-grade novel, she searingly writes about the different ways censorship can impact the freedom to read. Sixth-grader Mac Delaney is aghast to find black rectangles all over his copy of a Jane Yolen novel about the Holocaust, and when he and his friends seek out the source, they discover the terrors of bureaucratic school boards and adults who treat kids like they are dumb. Whip-smart, tuned in to the mind of sixth-graders, and beautifully concluded, the novel takes a bold stand in a time of book bans and rampant censorship but does not go the traditional route of outright bans and empty shelves; rather, it's individual words that are being censored. Young readers will leave inspired to stand up and protest in their own lives and to be more like Mac, Marci, and Dennis in speaking up, even when their own lives are complicated. Against the backdrop of family issues, first crushes, and the end of elementary school, this is a beacon of hope for middle grades and an object lesson in treating kids like the intelligent readers they are. Perfect for fans of Avi's classic Nothing but the Truth and Alan Gratz's Ban This Book (2017).