REVIEW: Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

 

OUR REVIEW:

I'm reading this for a book club meeting and it was definitely a book that tackles a lot of issues that fall under the censorship/book banning umbrella. While none of the book provides any earthshattering revelations, it does provide readers an opportunity to explore why some people try to rationalize their support for book bans and why others vehemently oppose them. Of course I'm on the side of those who oppose them and was heartened in each chapter to feel that opposition come through, though I'm sure supporters of book bans wouldn't like how they're portrayed or what's attributed to their 'side'. I think many people could benefit from reading this book and converse about it, and I'm very interested in hearing what my book club counterparts will think.

Things to know about this novel:

Each chapter features different characters in the town and their experiences with the book ban. That being understood, the same main characters are featured again and again--so it doesn't feel like a series of short stories, it's definitely interconnected. 

Each of the polarizing characters almost feel like caricatures--but having seen some of this play out in real life, these over the top people do exist, strangely enough. 

By the time you reach the end, you'll feel satisfied with the way the loose ends are tied up. 

I think this is a very good book club read. 4 stars 

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SYNOPSIS:

The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.

But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.