This book should be mandatory reading for every parent whose child is in school or about to start school. Maybe it would help get them to see that this issue is bigger than their child, that it is as big as freedom gets. And maybe it would get them to think a bit more, be ruled by fear a bit less, and get them to back the f off and let library professionals do their jobs.

While the most common involved parents freaking out about their kids' reading material, there were also really thought-provoking stories about other types of censorship, such as librarians' self-censorship and about student activism against censorship.

Ending now with the quintessential quote from the book: "Who do they think they are? What gives them the right to decide what I can and can't read?" (p.49) ( )

While finding accounts of the big censorship battles (Ulysses, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer) is easily done, this collection provides more typical censorship challenges libraries must deal with on a more common basis. A useful touchstone given these times of greatly increased challenges to library materials we are seeing today. ( )