Book Review: Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books

Here’s my book review for Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’ve read it too. And check out today’s writing prompt at the bottom...

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller is a novel that takes an important, heavy, timely topic and makes it highly entertaining and extremely relatable while never sacrificing deep meaning, contemplation, and human empathy. I knew the instant I read the blurb of this book that I’d love it. But I didn’t know how much of an impact it would have on me once I was done reading it, and that I will probably recommend it to everyone as required reading this year.

It’s easy for most of us library lovers and book lovers to get caught up in the media hype surrounding banned books, or the people who are trying to ban books in schools and libraries— which is luckily not as many as we think, although they do make more than enough noise to cause serious issues and damage to so many people. Of course, we want to fight back against those people who are trying to silence the stories and voices of other people who need to be heard. And we will. However, this novel thankfully reminds us that there are real people behind book bans too, who have their own complicated histories worth considering for a beat, while simultaneously never giving them a bit of leeway or excuse for the horrible things they’re doing. It prevents us book lovers from also becoming self-righteous blind hypocrites, in other words. 

Once readers discover why Lula is on her crusade to ban books, for example, they will likely feel a complex web of emotions: pity, horror, righteousness, relief, joy, etc. … as they will also feel for complicated characters like Logan Walsh. Which is to say that Miller does a phenomenal job developing her characters as examples of real-life complex individuals who make a variety of choices for a variety of different reasons, so they are completely believable. At the same time, justice is still ultimately served. 

This novel also touches on the impact books and others’ stories have on us as human beings, how and why we crave them, how they connect us, and how they can literally change our lives for the better. It reminded me of why we all read, why I read, why we need to read, and how reading and talking about what we read with others is as essential to survival as breathing in a lot of ways. 

Different characters in the novel read for different reasons, and they’re all valid and relatable. They read because they’re curious or bored or need information, validation, comfort, advice, or inspiration—sometimes all at once—just like real people in the real world do. Yet this novel also reminds us that books, especially banned books, never make people do anything, as no book can do that. A book can only allow you to see and understand yourself or another human being a little more fully, but it cannot cause someone to be gay, become a pedophile, commit a crime, or start a feminist revolution, etc. 

Last but not least, I ultimately loved the ending of this book. I confess, at first I thought it was hokey… until I realized that its ending is the exact one most of us decent people and readers are looking for and fighting for when it comes to book bans and everything that comes with them in the real world. We’re fighting for a path forward where we all have a place and voice that is based in reality, where we try like hell not to recommit the egregious crimes of history. And where we try our best to understand and support one another, including our right to read whatever we want. Right? Isn’t that the future we’re after?

Here is one of my favorite passages from the book: 

“But that’s the thing about jokes, Beverly realized. The fact that they’re funny doesn’t make them any less serious. Lindsay’s little prank had started a chain reaction. The books she’d put in that library had opened eyes, granted courage, and exposed terrible crimes. That’s why they were dangerous— why so many people wanted to hide them.” (p282)

Overall, I will probably end up recommending this book to just about everyone. There is something for everyone in this book, and it is incredibly timely. 

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© All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton and Creighton’s Compositions LLC.

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Today’s Writing Prompt: