Stories change our HEARTS, EXPAND our WORLDS, and CHALLENGE what was. STORYTELLERS have always threatened those in POWER, but TODAY the stakes are dire, as book bands and library CENSURES INCREASE across the United States.

NO ONE has been able to take away our folk’s JOY. I find TALKING about the RIDICULOUSNESS of the BANS sometimes BRINGS LAUGHTER, in the ways our people have learned to LAUGH to keep from CRYING. We do what we need to do. WE RESIST, WE INFORM, WE AMPLIFY, WE WRITE! –Jacqueline Woodson

• When I heard my book was banned, I felt HOPEFUL? PROUD? The people doing this banning are not great people. To resort to such a CRUDE TOOL shows how very AFRAID and THREATENED they are. To quote the late great June Jordan “I must become a MENACE to my ENEMIES.” – Ta-Nehisi Coates

• I made Flamer to HELP KIDS who feel ALIENATED, ISOLATED, and DESPERATE, and BOOK BANNER want to take that HELP AWAY. This is all been done name of PROTECTING the CHILDREN, but nothing could be FURTHER from the TRUTH…I find SOLACE in creating NEW WORK. – Mike Curato

• I have never read a book that I was not supposed to. My parents didn’t lace any restrictions on my reading, and I believe that THE EXPERIENCE of NOT UNDERSTANDING something is just ANOTHER KIND OF LEARNING. If I believe that there were books someone wasn’t supposed to read; “I would be a fundamentally different person – Kyle Lukoff

• I feel like TENDENCIES brought up by this frantic need to CONTROL CHILDREN’S THOUGHTS in was that seem REPREHENSIBLE to me and are indeed an ECHO of the book burnings of the 1930’s in Germany, are unfortunate.  – Art Spiegelman