# book banning (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 5 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover book banning. Page: Feed: --- ## [The Goddess of Song](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/08/17/the-goddess-of-song/) _2026-08-17 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ What song shall that be? This Sunday I am hitting up Psalm 149, the penultimate and most musical psalm in the psalter. Sing to the Lord a new song. And what song shall that be for you, for me? Let me tell you about a MOST musical religious experience I had on sabbatical. You’re supposed to have religious \[…\] ## [Church of the Second Chance](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/08/13/church-of-the-second-chance/) _2026-08-13 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church… And I will give you the keys to the kingdom”. Matthew 16 As a little Roman Catholic kid, this very familiar verse is one of the only Bible stories I can remember being told. After all this was the \[…\] ## [Preaching — a Heartbeat away from Washington, D.C.](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/08/06/preaching-a-heartbeat-away-from-washington-d-c-2/) _2026-08-06 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ I am proud of my heritage and was very fond of telling visitors on my tours at the Library of Congress, that I am a multigenerational Washingtonian. As in D.C. While others move in and out of the city, with each passing administration, the Peacocks have stayed there from one decade to the next. I \[…\] ## [Fahrenheit 2026](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/08/03/fahrenheit-2026/) _2026-08-04 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ Today Monday, August 3 2026, I read Librarians and Booksellers Will Be Arrested for Doing Their Jobs in Arkansas. Terrifying. So, I am reposting this from February of last year. Fahrenheit 2025 | The Year It All Burned Down Ray Bradbury’s classic begins: “It was a PLEASURE TO BURN. “It was a special pleasure to seen \[…\] ## [Old Woman and the Sea](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/08/02/old-woman-and-the-sea/) _2026-08-02 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ I am no Hemingway… But like the Old Man of his Pulitzer winning novel, I have long had a problematic relationship with large bodies of water. Sea water and pool water. As a child – by the sea, by the beautiful sea – my fair, freckled skin would fry to a crisp. Bright red and \[…\] ## [Freaky Friday | Cartoon Style](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/07/31/freaky-friday-cartoon-style/) _2026-07-31 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ Note: You can also follow Joani and Hope Is Like A Feather on Substack. ## [Itching To Be An Exorcist (Links corrected!)](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/07/21/itching-to-be-an-exorcist-links-corrected/) _2026-07-22 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ (Midterms are coming! Get out the vote!) I am itching to do an exorcism. Not very Episcopal, you say. True, so true. But the truth of the matter is that exorcism remains an Anglican tradition. More polite, well mannered, and tasteful compared to our Roman Catholic cousins. More prayerful, more reverent, more pastoral than the Hollywood \[…\] ## [Inked](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/07/15/inked/) _2026-07-15 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ (from the archives) Henna does not hurt. Partying like it was 1999 – which it was – I spent a little sliver of my sabbatical at Venice Beach. I stayed with my new age, hipster, therapist friend Carey. We went rollerblading. We got our hair braided into a thousand little braids. We got our picture \[…\] ## [Food = Comfort | Comfort = Food](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/07/11/food-comfort-comfort-food/) _2026-07-11 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ I do not cook – so – I pretty much live on a steady diet of comfort food. Comfort food that someone else has made. That someone else being Trader Joe’s or Washington Perk Market just down the street. A comfort food diet, of course, is not to be recommended in any way for any reason. \[…\] ## [Reading for Hope (A Homily Wrapped in a Book Report)](https://unorthodoxunhinged.com/2026/07/08/reading-for-hope-a-homily-wrapped-in-a-book-report/) _2026-07-08 · Like The Bird · Hope Is Like A Feather_ I remember my older sister reading me to sleep. P.D. Eastman’s, Are You My Mother? was one of my favorites. But what really rocked me to sleep were Dr. Seuss’s rhythmic cadences of The Cat in the Hat. I never made it to kindergarten. I was no wunderkind reading at three. But I remember coming home from my \[…\] ## [Marketplace for AI-Powered Professionals (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/uOyZAxnqsJTt) _2026-07-08 · **Sponsored**_ Find professionals who use ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude to deliver work faster. ## [Children's Book Authors Collaborate to Host Event for Minneapolis and St. Paul Students](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2026/03/childrens-book-authors-collaborate-to.html) _2026-03-03 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, co-founders of Just Us Books and editors of the best-selling anthology We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices , will join children’s book creators in a live, virtual event for students in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 11am ET/ 10 am CT. Hosted by PEN America, in collaboration with Just Us Books, Penguin Random House, The… ## [Book Banning Across America](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/02/27/book-banning-across-america/) _2026-02-27 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ In case you missed it, book banning is going national. On Tuesday, February 24, HR 7661 was introduced in the second session of the 119th Congress by Rep. Mary Miller, the representative from the 15th, the most Republican district in Illinois. Rep. Miller is known for, among very few other things, quoting Hitler approvingly to … Continue reading "Book Banning Across America" ## [Not a How-to](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/02/12/not-a-how-to/) _2026-02-12 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ So a week from today, on February 19, 2026, a book I edited and wrote a little of is officially appearing in the world. It’s about something I think is important–the widespread effort to limit access in classrooms and libraries to books some people think should not be readily available. My press, Bloomsbury Academic, thinks … Continue reading "Not a How-to" ## [We Have Met the Enemy](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/01/24/we-have-met-the-enemy/) _2026-01-25 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ I’m writing this on the night of January 24, 2026, at the end of a day filled with news from Minneapolis, where, at 9 this morning, ICE shot an innocent man after dragging him to the ground and pistol whipping him. The people in charge of the occupation of American have been lying about this … Continue reading "We Have Met the Enemy" ## [I Read the News Today, Oh Boy](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/01/03/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/) _2026-01-03 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ So we woke up today to learn that we’re kidnapping people outside the US now too. The president and whoever was the last person to talk to him decided to attack Venezuela because of drugs, oil, democracy, domestic politics, unresolved daddy issues, FIFA peace prize, whatever. And he didn’t ask Congress because only people who … Continue reading "I Read the News Today, Oh Boy" ## [This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/11/24/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/) _2025-11-25 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ So they’re destroying higher education in the US. It was maybe the thing we should have been proudest of. For decades after the Baby Boom filled campuses to bursting and the National Defense Education Act of 1958 responded to Sputnik by pouring billions of dollars into research, American universities were the envy of the world. … Continue reading "This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things" ## [Founders' Reflection On 37 Years](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/our-founders-reflection-on-37-years.html) _2025-10-31 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ Today marks the last day of Just Us Books’ anniversary month. We are so thankful that we have been able to do this work for 37 years! Publishing books that help our young people learn about Black history, Black culture, and Black experiences is an honor. As with all businesses, there have been challenges to overcome and successes to celebrate. But, like our ancestors before us, Just Us Books… ## [Hey You Assholes](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/10/15/hey-you-assholes/) _2025-10-15 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ I haven’t written a thing on this blog since June because I’ve been busy and because I’ve been angry. Like maybe most of the people reading this, should such a thing happen, I’ve been moving back and forth between helpless angry and motivated angry, between there’s nothing we can do angry and we have to … Continue reading "Hey You Assholes" ## [10 Actions to Fight Book Bans](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/10-actions-to-fight-book-bans.html) _2025-10-06 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ The number of challenged and banned books in the United States has soared in recent years. According to Pen America, there were 22,810 instances of banned books in U.S. public schools from 2021 to 2025. Books have also been removed from libraries, museum shops, and even the United States Defense Department schools. The majority of titles that have been targeted contain themes about race, gender,… ## [Black Business Month - A Time for Action](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/black-business-month-time-for-action.html) _2025-07-28 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ Black Business Month (August) is almost here, and it’s not only a time for celebration, it’s a time for action. Black-owned businesses are a vital component of society — driving innovation, creating jobs, contributing to the community, and in the case of publishing — sharing and preserving important stories, history, and culture. When Frederick E. Jordan and John William Templeton founded Black… ## [Never miss a game (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/lSqBL0EmVU77) _2025-07-28 · **Sponsored**_ Follow any team; get an hour and one-minute web and email reminders. ## [Remembering Tony Rose](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/remembering-tony-rose.html) _2025-06-16 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ We remember fellow book publisher, Tony Rose, who passed away at the age of 74. Following a successful career in the music industry, Tony founded Amber Books with his wife Yvonne in 1996, specializing in self-help and music biographies. Amber went on to publish more than 1,000 titles, including African Americans and the Future of New Orleans: Rebirth, Renewal and Rebuilding . Under Tony’s… ## [Going Underground](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/06/01/going-underground/) _2025-06-01 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ Below please find a few words I delivered to introduce the closing plenary of a seminar last week. It’s short but says something about what it’s like for humanities professors trying to help run departments, divisions, or colleges during the worst assault on higher education this country has ever seen. Association of Departments of English/Association … Continue reading "Going Underground" ## [Requiem](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/03/16/requiem/) _2025-03-17 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ Anna Akhmatova This set of poems was written by Anna Akhmatova from 1935-1961. Most of the poems were written in the 1940s, but Akhmatova did not think it would be safe for her to publish them at the time. They weren’t published in Russia until 1987. The below steals from a few different translations I … Continue reading "Requiem" ## [Whose Story Are You Sharing?](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/03/whose-story-are-you-sharing.html) _2025-03-12 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ It’s Women’s History Month, a celebration dedicated to learning about and sharing women’s many — and often untold — contributions to society. We honor women who have played, and are playing, an important role in leading, healing, teaching, advocating, and blazing trails to make our world better. Women like Susie King Taylor. Born into slavery in Georgia, she learned how to read and write in secret… ## [Dear Donald John](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/02/19/dear-donald-john/) _2025-02-20 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ Dear Donald John,We're just going to pull the band-aid off here: we're writing to tell you that we don't want to see you anymore. We don't want to hurt your feelings, because you seem to be kind of thin-skinned, like the kind of thin-skinned where if somebody makes a joke about you you'll run for … Continue reading "Dear Donald John" ## [FOREVER HOME](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2025/02/forever-home.html) _2025-02-13 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ A Dog and Boy Love Story By Henry Cole (Scholastic Press, 2022) Breathe out. Slowly. Every time I open this book, I feel love. Forever Home is a tender, heart-tugging wordless book masterfully told by Henry Cole’s detailed ink pen drawings. The story begins before the title page, a practice I love in books. Let’s dig right in. Immediately we see distress in a dog as it sits atop a stoop, a lockbox… ## [Gulf of America](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/02/11/gulf-of-america/) _2025-02-11 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ With help from Merriam-Webster: gulf noun 1. A part of the ocean or sea extending into the land The U.S. has a few gulfs, among them the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of Maine, and the Gulf of Mexico. California has a couple more gulfs. The country’s also got plenty of sounds and bays and … Continue reading "Gulf of America" ## [Doing the Work](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/02/doing-work.html) _2025-02-10 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ Founders Wade Hudson, Cheryl Willis Hudson, Paul Coates, Haki Madhubuti and Kassahoun Checole speak at IBPA's Legends of Black Independent Publishing panel As we start the second week of Black History Month, we hope this post will be an encouraging reminder of companies that are doing the work. Institutions that have made sharing our stories their mission. Black-owned publishers that celebrate… ## [THE SILENCE SLIPS IN](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-silence-slips-in.html) _2025-02-07 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ Written by Alison Hughes Illustrated by Ninon Pelletier (Orca Book Publishers, 2019) This is one of those books that may soothe children and adults alike. (Honestly, I think adults will embrace the message more.) We all experience silence. We all need it. Some people, however, are not as comfortable in the quieter moments. The Silence Slips In is a book that anticipates quiet and wholeheartedly… ## [SURPRISE](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2025/01/surprise.html) _2025-01-30 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ By Mies Van Hout (Lemniscaat, 2013) I love when I discover a book that’s more than a decade old in a first-run bookstore. So often, shelf life is so short. It’s a fast read. Fourteen words, including the title. But, reading is not a race—except when I read Green Eggs and Ham . This is a book I have paged through many times, sometimes lingering on every page, sometimes letting just a few stand out.… ## [Meet Claude, the AI assistant (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/m2WW1hYbMnA2) _2025-01-30 · **Sponsored**_ Conversational AI to answer questions, brainstorm ideas, and help with tasks. ## [Back to Our Roots](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/01/back-to-our-roots.html) _2025-01-26 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ Wade and Cheryl Hudson present at an event hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at the Portsmouth Public Library (1988) When we started Just Us Books in 1988, we used a grassroots approach to connect with readers and market our company. We knew we could not depend on the traditional book publishing ecosystem — the same one that told us there was no market for our books. We were a Black-owned… ## [THE WALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-wall-in-middle-of-book.html) _2025-01-24 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ By Jon Agee (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2018) Sometimes I read a picture book and I’m not sure what it’s really about. I mean, I can figure out what’s happening on the page and take it at face value but, the events are so odd, that there must be a deeper, bigger meaning. The good thing is this kind of picture book is way more fun than a similarly elusive meaning in a poem. Even better, when I… ## [WHERE TO HIDE A STAR](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2025/01/where-to-hide-star.html) _2025-01-11 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ By Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins, 2024) I have been a fan of Oliver Jeffers’ picture books since I discovered The Incredible Book Eating Boy which I read to countless classes and parent groups. (It’s one of the first picture books I blogged about .) That book celebrates an unorthodox love of books and a hunger for knowledge. (Yes, the title should be taken literally.) Since then, Jeffers has… ## [THE YELLOW BUS](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-yellow-bus.html) _2025-01-05 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ By Loren Long (Roaring Brook Press, 2024) This story began from a curious mind. As author-illustrator Loren Long explains at the end of the book, an old yellow school bus “surrounded by goats” rests in a field he passes by while on his regular jogs. How did it wind up there? What was its history? Here’s a window into Long’s imagined chronology of the bus’s roles, its users varying over time: ·… ## [It's Up to Us](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2025/01/its-up-to-us.html) _2025-01-01 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ On Christmas we called our dear friend and family George Ford. As usual, he was full of energy and encouragement. We talked about everything from Nikki Giovanni’s tremendous legacy to the new Netflix special The Six Triple Eight. As the conversation turned to our work as book creators, George shared some wise words. “It’s not about overcoming someday. It’s now. It’s us. It’s up to us.” The work… ## [HERE & THERE](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2024/12/here-there.html) _2024-12-16 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ By Thea Lu (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024) There are homebodies and there are those with constant wanderlust. Here and There celebrates both. The double-page spread format of picture books allows author and illustrator Thea Lu to chronicle the parallel lives of two people, on the surface starkly different, but more similar in terms of how they think and feel. Dan, the homebody… ## [Book and Bookish Gift Ideas from Small Businesses and Creators](https://justusbooks.blogspot.com/2024/12/book-and-bookish-gift-ideas-from-small.html) _2024-12-08 · JustUsBooks.com · Good Books Make a Difference_ In the spirit of cooperative economics, we’re spotlighting book and bookish gifts from independent creators and small businesses. There’s something for everyone, adults included! And remember, when you shop small, you’re not just giving unique and meaningful gifts — you’re supporting talented creators and making a real difference in independent businesses. Here's our list: King of Kindergarten… ## [JOHN'S TURN](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2024/11/johns-turn.html) _2024-11-25 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ By Mac Barnett Illustrated by Kate Berube (Candlewick Press, 2022) I checked this book out of my local library based on the writer’s name and the cover image. Mac Barnett is a clever, sparkly writer of children’s books like Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Count the Monkeys . I figured I could use some amusement. But this isn’t that kind of book. (More on the cover in a bit.) The book focuses on a… ## [BIJAN ALWAYS WINS](https://boyzread.blogspot.com/2024/11/bijan-always-wins.html) _2024-11-13 · GREGORY WALTERS · Boyz Read_ Written by Adib Khorram Illustrated by Michelle Tran (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024) This is a curious book, for the wrong reasons. The title doesn’t match the text, at least not to my satisfaction. I checked out the book, thinking it would be about poor sportsmanship—yes, winners can be bad sports. I figured it would include a comeuppance, an occasion when the main character must deal with…