Appleton Elementary is a tiny school, barely meeting its quota of 20 students, and has a new librarian, Rita B. Danjerous, who has created a “Green Dot” collection, which students can simply take from, without worrying about checking out. These books are about topics that students want to know about, but might be too embarrassed to ask for, or uncertain about. The new school board president, Ivanna Beproper, has no cred to be in that position, but is there nonetheless and is taking issue with the dangerous idea of books being used to help students (and staff!) learn things.

What follows is a great showing of the students and staff working together to overthrow Beproper’s hypocritical reign over the school, and stand up for the library and, by proxy, free information and learning itself.

When I was in grade school, I fondly remember reading Kate and Sarah Klise’s “Regarding the…” series, and loved the unique presentation and puns and all around blend of absurdity and call to action of the books.

Don’t Check Out This Book! has the same unique presentation and style I loved then and still love now–the story is told through letters, emails, memos, notes, and a variety of other correspondences–and the wonderful puns, which I “get” even more now. The call to action in this book is one that I can fully approve of–challenge those in power when they’re obviously manipulating the system, and stay informed through reading! It’s always a relevant message, but even more so these days.

I do wish there had been a list of the author’s own “Green Dot” collection or recommended readings, to give us a true idea of what kinds of topics were supposedly covered by the collection. But apart from that, the book was everything I expected it to be, a perfect mixture of wit, mystery, and inspiration!

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers for providing me with a free copy to review!

(Cross posted on my blog.)