Amazing read and so important in today's culture. A fabulous look at mob mentality and how some people feel entitled to dictate to others. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. So fantastic.

Admittedly, I am absolutely not the target demographic for this book and I really really felt that while reading (it made me feel so old!)
That said, I have to rate it highly, in honour of my 15 year old self, who could have really done with a book like this thrust into her hands.
It's very un-subtle and extreme in its message, but god, we live in a world where far right politics ARE very un-subtle and extreme so I think it's only fair we respond in kind. The right-wing characters in the book felt overexaggerated, evil, and cartoonish: just like they do in real life!
I think it's a really strong story, that does not compromise on its opinions, and I think that's exactly something a young person learning about the world needs to absorb.

In This Book Won't Burn, Samira Ahmed's delivers a masterclass in how to write electrifyingly relevant and important YA fiction.

The banning of books is not a new concept. Censorship has been used throughout our history to keep people ignorant to the true injustices in our society. As a school librarian, I feel very lucky to be working in UK schools because our libraries are vibrant, welcoming, safe spaces where inclusion and diversity are at the heart of the collections we curate.

In Ahmed's novel, 18-year-old Noor moves from Chicago to a small Illinois town and takes on the fight against conservative MAGA parents and school board members who are able to instigate book bans in the guise of protecting children. Noor, as a Muslim in America, knows first hand how it feels to be villainized by these people who really have no understanding of their own hate (at one point someone makes a comment to Noor about worshipping Monkey Gods and she realizes that the people who hate her for being Muslim don't even know the difference between Muslims and Hindus).

Along with new friends, Noor creates the Bulldog Banned Camp where students, teachers and parents are able to access and support the provision of the challenged books. Among these is Ms Clayton, the school librarian, who is a total badass and makes me proud to be in the same role. As you'd expect, Bulldog Banned Camp faces backlash from the conservatives in town, and this quickly escalates from trolling online to real physical danger.

This story is incredibly important at a time when people across the world could do with a bit more empathy. The claims made by the conservative parents in this novel are extreme and would feel ridiculously hyperbolic if they weren't literally the kind of things I see as comments on TikTok and Instagram every day. We are living in a time when people with bigoted views use aggression, gaslighting and physical violence to get what they want, and it is so important for our young people to learn, as Noor does in this novel, that there is still hope in the good fight.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Group for the digital ARC. I can't wait to get physical copies of this into the hands of my students!

This book definitely isn't for everyone, but it's also very important.
Some people won't understand it, but then others will take great comfort from it.
There's quite a lot of different themes going on here, but would recommend to all who want to take a stand and make a change
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

"Words give us power; that's why some adults want to silence us."

An engrossing read, focussing on book banning, censorship and prejudice in a small American town but the issues faced will be familiar to many across the world. There is also a focus on family, relationships and parental abandonment. A lot of things to cover, but the author combines them well and you're not left short-changed on either front. I liked Noor, the MC, and the friendship group she finds herself in when the family moves unexpectedly.

The cover and title are enticing and the book will definitely find some readers in our library.

This book was fantastic, it strikes up powerful and thought provoking conversation without the heaviness. It asks you to think about right and wrong, while also saying that silence makes you just as wrong.

Well done to the author the plot and characters are brillant!

I thoroughly enjoyed last year's Hollow Fires and I think this is even better. Told from the perspective of 18 year old Noor, This Book Won't Burn ironically would be a book on some people's burn lists because of its 'dangerous' content. There is no sex, no seriously bad language, a couple of 'f-bombs' in moments of stress, no exagerated violence: and that's the point of this novel. Ahmed's exploration of what makes a 'dangerous' book in small town Illinois brings home the awful state of play when one parent can question a book's place in a school library because of its content - especially when that content is about black and brown characters, non-heterosexual relationships and activism.
Noor arrives at her new school reeling from a family fracture to find the librarian packaging up 500 books from the school library that have been challenged by parents within the school community. All are from black or brown or LGBTQIA authors. Some portray stories of police violence but all are deemed 'dangerous' by at least one member of the school's parenting community. As the daughter of activist parents Noor cannot stomach this policy and she questions it. Within the first week she has gained a detention for wearing a tshirt that says 'I read banned books' and a notorious reputation as a trouble maker. She attracts the attention of the school board and local politicians who cannot wait to put her in her place.
Well written and engaging, This Book Won't Burn is a page turner. Full of great characters and reasonably authentic school descriptions - my particular bugbear! Here we have teachers who run the gambit of characterisation - the MAGA teacher to the BLM librarian and everything in between.
Really enjoyable and will likely make a lot of longlists this next year. highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'This Book Won't Burn' by Samira Ahmed.

This story tackles current times in the best way possible. Speaking about the book banning in America and politics, Samira Ahmed wrote a YA (I'd say more on the younger side of YA) book that is essential during the current climate. I did get the ick at some of the dialogue but that may be because I feel the writing is more Middle Grade.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK | Atom and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This title touches on a lot of really important topics which are very important for the younger generation to have access to at the moment, given the political climate. With that being said, I'm not entirely sure who the intended audience for this novel is. At first, I thought it would be for readers of Noors age, however the writing appears much younger.

While the author handles sensitive topics with care and does a good job of depicting a multitude of struggles faced by the characters, this book was a little longer than need be and some of the plot lines felt like a filler to reach a word count.

The book was, ultimately, fine, but that's all it was.

Many thanks for this ARC.

Samira Ahmed once again touches on incredibly topical themes and does so beautifully. However, the novel itself felt like it could have been wrapped up at several points and felt a tad too long.

This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed
Publication date 2nd May 2024

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Noor Khan is near to finishing school when her mum , due to family circumstances, moves Noor and her sister to a new school in a small town. Noor just wants to finish her last year unnoticed. She becomes aware of books being removed from her school library because they are deemed to be 'inappropriate' and there for essentially being 'banned'. With the help of some friends, Noor decides to make a stand to the injustices being imposed on them.

The books main story is book banning in an American school, and that these books that are being removed are written by authors of colour, or queer authors. Though there are some serious and important messages throughout that the author does not shy away from and tackles them head-on, such as racism, fascism, and homophobia are but a few.

The target audience for this book is for young adults, and you can tell from the style it has been written in. Some of the language used is a little 'young' for an older reader, and I did have to ask my teen daughter what some of the terms used meant. So, as an older reader, I did struggle to fully engage in this book - it felt too young for me. I would recommend it to the YA audience, probably more to the younger side of teens, 13-14 year olds. My teenage daughter would love this book. I would purchase this as a gift or for my daughter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group Uk

Review to socials two weeks prior to publishing date, and from the 2nd May for retail.

A good book. I think it's a little young for me, but there are important themes for people of all ages. I really liked Noor and Amal and their fight against injustice. It shows how people can be truly blind to their racism and homophobia because it hides behind 'our culture, our way of life.'

This is a spoiler free review! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

“Hope is an act, not just a feeling. Hope is a choice. So are hate and cynicism and silence. Every day I have to think about what I’m going to choose.”

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･･:*.ೃ࿔⋆❀°

☆ Synopsis

After her dad abandons her family and her mom relocates them to a small, predominantly white town miles away from home, Noor is forced to rebuild her broken life away from everything she has ever known. At her new school, Noor discovers hundred of books, mainly written by authors of colour and queer authors, have been banned due to “obscene content”. Feeling she can’t ignore the issue, Noor and her new friends, Faiz and Juniper, rebel against the school board and begin reading the books aloud while off-campus. As Noor gains notoriety, she finds herself going head-to-head against some very powerful people.

☆ My thoughts

✻ This book is not for everyone

As much as I’d say this is a book I’d recommend to everyone, I’d be lying, this book is not something Conservatives would enjoy or even tolerate. This is not for right-wing, MAGA hat-wearing people who believe that “snowflakes” are destroying freedom of speech, this is young teenagers who see the injustices occurring in the world and feel powerless. Especially the young people of colour that feel their words mean nothing and carry no weight in this world. The politics of this book are not subtle, they’re heavy-handed and unavoidable, so if this doesn’t sound like your kinda thing – it probably isn’t.

✻ My rating

More of a tentative 3.5 stars than 4, as I really struggled to get into it at the beginning, I almost thought I would mark it as DNF but I’m so glad I stuck it out because I was pleasantly surprised. Once I got into the book and started enjoying the characters more, I did fly through it. It was also a little cringey at parts, words like “adorkable” and “lowkey” made me roll my eyes a little bit but I acknowledge that this is probably because I am not the book’s target audience. I would argue it’s probably veering towards the older end of middle grade/younger end of young adults in terms of who I think will enjoy this book the most.

I’m rounding it up to 4 stars just because the ending was lovely and for the most part wrapped up the story nicely. Whether it was entirely believable is another thing, but it’s important to have hope so I do understand the author’s choice to wrap up the book in the way that she did.
Ultimately, books like This Book Won’t Burn are important, they leave you feeling enraged at times about the events occurring in the world, specifically America, but also feeling empowered by the strength of Noor and her friends. I know if I’d read this book as a young teen, I would’ve felt empowered to enact change and that’s why books like this are essential.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･･:*.ೃ࿔⋆❀°
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book raises very current issues in our society and tackles them in ways that fit in with the modern era.

There will be many who will hate this book. Precisely because it tackles head-on the growing rise in bigotry that is showing itself in many places. Unflinching, uncompromising and unashamedly vocal in its condemnation of those who would seek to curtail freedom on the grounds of protecting minors, This Book Won't Burn is the kind of book that should be on every library shelf and that every student should be encouraged to read.
Our main character, Noor, is a senior. She and her family move partway through the school year from their home in Chicago after their father leaves them. Having grown used to a certain amount of freedom, the new school - where she and her sister are in the minority - is a shock. Within a short time, Noor learns that her school librarian is being forced to withdraw hundreds of books as objections have been made as to their suitability for teaching.
Coming from an environment where we are able to signpost books on all topics without fear of reprisal, this is a tough read. Noor, along with her new friends, decides to make a stand. They set up their own FREADom libraries and meet off school grounds to share passages from the books their school claim to be inappropriate. It's not long before their behaviour is challenged and causes major upset across the town.
While a key focus of the book is the restrictions many find themselves working under, and how unfairly these are justified, the book also focuses on Noor developing as she comes to understand her parents and the choices they made.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

Noor Khan’s life takes a reset when her Dad suddenly leaves the family. She’s forced to go to another school in another part of Chicago. At the new school, she takes opposition to the banning of books (or ‘book boundaries’) in the library. A high school protest led by her goes statewide and also puts her life in danger.

It’s a YA book with a serious message: this is happening now in America. Unfortunately, this message is muddied with the tropes of teen literature: families, dates and study. Ahmed’s focus seems to be on that, rather than the contemporary issues. See also, the change in tone in the final third when the polemical style of the book becomes epistolary.

Ultimately, this is a book about banned books (all the titles Noor reads are all ‘under review’ in some states). It won’t stop the insanity of censorship disguising itself as safeguarding, but teenage audiences will love its passion. It’s published by Little Brown on May 2nd and I thank them for a preview copy.

After moving to the small town of Bayberry following a family meltdown, Noor Khan is trying to adjust to the new normal, living with just her mother and sister. That's easier said than done, and the last thing she wants to do is make waves in this new location.

But in the library, which is her safe haven, Noor notices large numbers of books being removed from the shelves - apparently, in some kind of purging exercise. Disturbed to learn that these are all books that are being banned,
Noor finds herself in the uncomfortable position of questioning whether she should make a stand. The problem is, that would require a willingness to stand out and commit to a higher-profile school life than she has planned...

This story not only conveys the authentic angst of teenage life and the challenges of high school, but also raises some timely issues of what it means to be a POC in a society which includes people who seek to ignore (or erase) the past in order to live in what they considered to be a more "comfortable" - and decidedly more homogeneous! - version of the present. Definitely worth a read.