June Harper loves books and is devastated when her parents and school go full dictatorship and start banning books. The librarian is dismissed, the library is emptied and the students will get punished if found with books. June's books are also confiscated at home even though she has already read them all. June is inspired by a little free library in her neighborhood and starts her own library in an empty locker at school. Soon half of the students are borrowing books from her. The other half are part of a student anti-reading group. June becomes the Rebel Librarian and keeps getting books into kids hands, but of course the school is going to find out and put a stop to things. But can they really stop kids from reading? 

At one point June asks "aren't there any reason adults here?" and I have to concur. This is like mass hysteria and I don't get it. The parents and school administration/board were extremely extreme and fairly unrealistic. There are generally policies in place to prevent this kind of mass hysteria. This actually seemed like a dystopian read except it is contemporary fiction and nothing futuristic at all. I don't think I could have hated parents more than I hated June's. They were completely unreasonable and had no redeeming qualities. The people in this story reminded me of stories I have read of Nazis and those that resisted them. Except there didn't seem to be any resistance in the adults. You can't tell me that there weren't more open minded parents in that school who wanted their kids to read what they wanted. 

The only redeeming thing about this book was June herself. I actually adored her. I liked her passion for books and her determination to do what is right no matter what her parents think. I also appreciated the fact that she didn't give up on her parents even though they were completely unreasonable. I would have thrown the fit of all fits if my parents would have returned my books with pages torn out and edits made. There were also some pretty weird inconsistencies in the story. Like the fact that they can't read Newbery Winners and classics, but can read The Crucible in class. There is also the fact that June's parents don't want her to read books but let her watch things like Jaws. 

The majority of the time reading/listening to this book I was clenching my teeth in anger and seething with anger. But I was also cheering for June the entire time and happy that this experience helped her figure out who she was and who others are around her. She found her true friends and found out the truth about her previous friends. And she realizes she is going to be a librarian when she grows up. I approve, just not of this book.