“But locals have protested the removal by promoting the books far and wide. Bookstore Fireside Books has been raising funds to get the books out to young readers locally, a digital book club has been set up to discuss the titles, the Mat-Su Valley Banned Book Challenge is offering a $100 prize to those students who read all five titles, and local food truck DallyMac & Cheese will give a free mac’n’cheese to students who present a one-page report on any of the books. ‘By providing these books to MatSu Borough students, we aim to: broaden horizons, foster critical thinking, encourage healthy debate and discussion, nurture empathy and understanding, advocate engagement in social issues, enable independent thought [and] challenge censorship,’ wrote Fireside Books on Facebook, adding that ‘many concerned individuals from far and wide’ had donated money to pay for books to be distributed to children.” Love to see book banning backfire. “In this episode, we discuss books that transported us to this island nation: a suspenseful police procedural set during the 1990s Special Period; a thrilling hour-by-hour recount of the Cuba missile crisis; a sweeping family saga that’s an ode to storytelling; a journalistic memoir that explores life in modern Cuba; and a boozy murder mystery that travels back to the glamorous (and dangerous) nightclubs of the 1950s.” Sit in your favorite reading chair and travel to the island of Cuba.
— Drunk Austen 🍹📚 (@Drunk_Austen) April 30, 2020 Well done!
