PROPERTY OF THE REBEL LIBRARIAN

Seventh-grader June has always done well in school and obeyed her parents' wishes. That is, until they invoke a school-district-wide crusade against books they deem unsuitable. Narrator Monika Felice Smith's voice is youthful and earnest, lending sympathy to June's cause: running a locker library of banned books to compensate for her much-loved--and recently fired--school librarian's absence. Smith gives distinct, believable voices to the story's middle school characters, such as love interest Graham and exciting new friend Abby. But the adults all share a formal-sounding voice. Perhaps this was intentional on the part of Smith; the story paints the adults as one-dimensional villains, so it makes sense that they have similar voices. S.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2018]