Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King - ESSENTIAL

 Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King, 272 pages. Scholastic, 2022. $19 

Language: G (1 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content:G ; Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL – ADVISABLE, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

12yo Mac is excited for the Lit Circles in his class – his group gets The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Plus his group has his best friend in it. But when Mac opens the book, he notices a few of the words are blacked out. Who did that? Their teacher Ms. Sett? Around town she has definitely woeked to manipulate the town to do things her way. But Mac was brought up by a mother and grandad who raised him to speak out. Brushed off by the principal, Mac and his friends decide to take it problem of the rectangles straight to the school board. 

King is very timely with her look at another form that censorship in the classroom can take. Adults will definitely embrace this, and I think kids will too. My only problem with it is that the other kids in the class seemed to just accept the black rectangles without question. I just don’t think that many kids would be so acquiescent. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS