King, Amy Sarig. Attack of the Black Rectangles. Fiction. Scholastic, 09/2022. 258 [+4]pp. $18.99. 978-1-338-68052-2. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 4-8.
Every town needs rules, and everyone should follow them, at least that is what sixth grader Mac Delaney’s organized and opinionated teacher believes and shares in the classroom and in the local newspaper. Mac’s estranged and struggling father thinks some people don’t need to follow any rules. But, as Mac finds, who chooses the rules and how they follow them is a very tricky thing. When Mac finds his classroom reading circle is being handed censored copies of The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, he embarks on a campaign to make his own choices, finding allies in family, townspeople, and members of his class who have their own visions of fairness and freedom. Seemingly didactic and simple at first, this story is a beautiful love letter to the communities of literature and tolerance, an exploration of how simple it is to blindly follow rules and how important it is not to do so.
Lesley Mandros Bell, Oakland Library Advocates