Like The Catcher in the Rye (which I read in high school), Lawn Boy by Evison gives first-person voice to a male character struggling to find his place in the world. In this case it's Mike Muñoz, a 23-year-old half Mexican landscaper living and working in Washington State. Mike lives with his mother and his special needs brother in a dilapidated trailer. He works as a landscaper, struggling to make a living doing the work, which he truly loves. After getting fired from his job for refusing to pick up dog poop for a rich customer, he starts an odyssey of pushing back against circumstance and socio-economic realities to succeed. He's an avid reader, so the library provides a fertile ground for knowledge and creativity.

At times hilarious, heartbreaking, inspiring, and infuriating, this novel is exemplary in how it presents the very particular experiences of a man who's part of the working poor, yet who yearns for better. His observations about how the idea of the "American Dream" isn't as black-and-white as society tells us it is, are enlightening and necessary.

So, why would it be banned?
It's first-person, so we get Mike unfiltered, which involves curse words, his best friend's bigotry, and (probably the reason professional book-banners target it) his own examination of his sexual orientation. While Holden struggled with his heterosexuality (remember the hooker and pimp?), Mike struggles with a same-sex experience he had as a young boy and wonders if his focus on it means he's not as straight as he thinks he is. The observations Mike makes about how some in American society can't get ahead because of their race, ethnicity, or where they're born is a strong--and true--and absolutely calls out white supremacy. The country club scene is especially powerful.

It's 2023. The LGBTQ+ community exists and they're not going anywhere. Our country DOES have huge disparities between the working class and the affluent. Keeping high school kids (my age rec for this) ignorant of this does NOTHING to make things better or, more importantly, make them empathetic and willing to work to make our country my fair for all. And, a parent ALWAYS has the right to keep their kid from reading a book. But taking it away from ALL kids is wrong, especially if your issue is its LGBTQ+ themes.

I really loved this one. Mike found his way into my heart. If you have a high-schooler or YOU just want to read a good, smart, inspiring book, read it. You won't regret it!

P.S. It's based on Jonathan's own life as a poor landscaper, which he was before he, like Mike, wanted to write the Great American Landscaper Novel. Which, in my estimation, he has done.