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.

When I read that this book featured a heroine who loved books, had a time-travel element, and included lots of Nathanial Hawthorne, I knew it was right up my alley. And it didn’t disappoint!

Ivy Jacobs runs away from her Boston home after her parents get angry about her teen pregnancy. She ends up in a commune-type place called The Community in western MA. Here she has her baby, named Mia, and ends up marrying the leader of the group, a controlling man named Joel. As Mia ages, she upsets the strict rules of the commune by reading books and challenging Joel’s power. When members of the group flout their laws, they get branded with the letter of their supposed crime. Eventually, Mia runs away from the group and begins living her life on her own terms.

I loved the time-travel aspect of this one. I was enchanted by the way Hoffman tied together Mia’s life with the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his novel The Scarlett Letter. I also enjoyed this novel even more after reading Hoffman’s personal note at the front of the book. You could tell she was passionate about her time with her mother and wanted to honor it with this book. My one critique is that the ending seemed to be wrapped up too quickly—especially after the strong narrative leading up to it. Still, overall this is a lovely book about the connection between mothers and daughters, a woman living her life on her own terms, and the power of reading and words.