Reviewing novels, short stories, plays and non fiction.
Here and Queer, by Rowan Ellis, is described as the guide that the author wishes she’d had as a girl. This guide book for queer girls is a sweet, neutral, educational resource for LGBTQ girls, with cute illustrations by Jacky Sheridan. I think this book would be helpful for parents of LGBTQ kids as well.
Many of the reviews by adults note that they wish this had existed when they were children.
Book bans have been a hot topic in the news lately, with British newspapers decrying the barbarity of American politicians banning everything from Maus to Jodi Picoult.
UK readers sympathise with Floridian librarians; nod at the bravery of teenagers wearing ‘I Read Banned Books’ t-shirts to their graduations; donate small amounts to charities distributing contraband literature.
Secretly, we comfort ourselves that this is happening far away; we tell ourselves that it would never be us, not in 2023; we lie to ourselves that censorship & book bans are the preserve of humid evangelical backwaters.
And yet book bans are happening, in the UK, in 2023.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is a tale of beauty, race and social ostracism. It takes place in Lorain, Ohio and centres on the destruction of a vulnerable little girl who believes herself to be ugly.
COPPER LANTERN BOOK REVIEWS 