[.ca] The Year They Burned the Books (ISBN 0374386676)

From Amazon.com:
High school condom distribution and a hotly contested sex education curriculum set a small New England town's blood boiling and books burning in The Year They Burned the Books, an issue-driven novel by Nancy Garden. Jamie Crawford is the senior editor of the "Telegraph," her high school's newspaper, but the publication of her editorial in favor of the school's new policy to distribute condoms happens to coincide with the election of a new, highly conservative school board member. As a result, Jamie suddenly finds her editorial voice gagged. Soon the school's health books have been removed from the classrooms for "review," a conservative parents' group stages a library book burning, and Jamie's beloved teacher is forced to resign as the newspaper's faculty advisor. Jamie's personal life also becomes more complicated as she tries to deal with her physical attraction to Tessa, a new girl at school. Then, on top of it all, Jamie and her best friend Terry (who is openly gay) are the victims of an attack by a group of conservative students and Jamie has to decide if she can handle the consequences of coming out. Teens love controversies, especially those involving young people, and there is scarcely a hot topic here that Garden doesn't touch. Yet in spite of the scene-stealing issues, Garden's timeless message that hardship shapes character is illustrated well in Jamie's transition from a "maybe," (as in "maybe gay, maybe straight")to a "probably" by novel's end. An excellent choice for use in high school discussions about censorship and free speech. (Ages 13 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert

eye-opening:
"The Year They Burned the Books" was one of the most realistic and eye-opening books I have ever read. Jamie, the main character in Ms. Garden's wonderful novel, struggles with the how, when and if of coming out of the closet. At the same time, the school board is voting to re-evaluate the school's sex-ed material, stressing abstience and showing pre-marital sex and homosexuality as being immoral and anti-God. Jamie is the editor-in-chief of her school's newspaper, and through the paper, she fights with her first amendmet right to make her point heard in the midst of all the chaos and divided opinions. This is an excellent book, showing how the differences in people's thoughts on morality can split them apart.

Still Reading, but book is breaking on me!:
The physical construction of this book (hardback) is highly inferior to any hardbacks I have come across in a long while! Seems like the publisher skimped on the binding or something. Granted, this has nothing to do with the story itself, but I'd be quite disappointed had I purchased this book myself. As it stands now, the library's copy I am reading will be hard-pressed to make it through two more circulations intact! Promising story, poor quality book!

Oy vey!!!:
Could there be anything else in this book? Censorship, homophobia, the religious right, sexuality, suicide--I can't think of a book that attempts to tackle so many issues at once. Not that Garden doesn't handle all of the issues well. I am particularly impressed with how she works in a minor physical altercation--a level of homophobia not seen in her earlier novels, and, I suspect, a reaction to the homocide of Matthew Shepard the same year. This novel raises many questions and is a must read for gay and straight teenagers.

Amazing book:
I literally just finished reading this book,and i thought it was amazing.As a teenager in a small town, I could relate to the characters,especially Jamie. This book was so interesting I couldn't even put it down!I recommend this book to absolutley anyone, and especially to teenagers.It's by far my favorite book ever!

A Controversial Story:
The Year They Burned the Books is about a group of high school students who run the school newspaper. When the paper's editor, Jamie Crawford, writes an editorial supporting the new Health Ed curriculum, which includes condom distribution, a controversy erupts. Jamie and her friends' views are opposed by fellow students, the new school board member, and even Jamie's good friend, Nomi. Can Jamie still keep her friendship with Nomi while coming to terms with her own beliefs and sexuality? I liked this book because most of the characters and situations were realistic and believable. The only things I didn't like were Lisa Buel's comments; they really made me mad. In this case for me, being fair to everyone was difficult. Something that confused me was why some of the kids were so Bible-obsessed. I have never seen kids like that in my life. Also, I don't remember any passage in the Bible saying homosexuality was evil. What Bible were they reading?