by Ellie Alexander

Calling all book rebels, are you ready for some rebel reading? I’m launching the Rebel Book Alliance, where we read and amplify banned books, and I’d love for you to join me.

My earliest memories are of traipsing to the library every Friday afternoon, where I would spend hours scouring the aisles and returning home with a stack of books I would devour in a few days. Reading about far-off corners of the globe and characters who had vastly different experiences than me shaped who I am as a writer and person today. Books like Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston opened my eyes to internment camps located a few miles away from where I grew up and something that my high school history classes barely touched upon. Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness redefined gender roles. At the same time, The Color Purple by Alice Walker revealed the brutalities of abuse and systemic racism with a powerful message of resiliency despite seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Without these stories and countless others, I don’t know who I would be today, so I’m starting the Rebel Book Alliance. Books like these are being banned in classrooms and libraries throughout the United States, and we can fight back with our collective reading power.

Here’s how it works. I’ll be sharing a variety of books on banned lists, from illustrated children’s books to full-length adult novels. You can buy the books, request them from your library, share them on social media, and talk about them with your book friends.

The first read for our Rebel Book Alliance is a sweet story about two penguins, Roy and Silo, who fall in love and adopt a baby penguin, And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. We’ll chat about the book live on Instagram on the last Thursday of the month. Join in on March 30 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

If you can’t join in this month, you can start reading next month’s book pick now—Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Pérez.

Happy rebel reading,

Ellie

Ellie Alexander is a voracious storyteller and lover of words and all things bookish. She believes that stories have the ability to transport and transform us. With over thirty published novels, her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.