Nonfiction RR

Yashan Lei

The article, "Banned Book Manifesto" by Ellen Hopkins, conveys the message that banned books have tough subject matter and are the ones that we depend on reading to find solutions to deal with it to make us stronger. Some of the tough issues deals with addiction, abuse, and thoughts of suicide. She made a point about how these banned book, such as her own book, Crank, can be a cure and understandings for people because these books show the outcome to choices that the characters make. It also show that people who are having these complicated problems are not alone, which can give hope to them. Banned books give valuable lessons which make these books important to us readers.

Ellen Hopkins uses craft moves to make her ideas stronger. She used a small moment about how one reader told her that she finds understanding after reading her books like how this reader saw herself in these tough situations. She also talks about how she received tens of thousands of messages from readers who are thankful to her because the banned books she wrote turn them around to the bright side of life. She said that she even heard about how reading banned books have saved lives because readers had found themselves and understandings from these great books.

I agreed with Ellen Hopkins that banned books contain valuable life lessons for people. Even though that banned books may be very dark that includes inappropriate contents, this is real life, this is a side of the real world and by exploring the characters and the hard conditions they are in, reading it can help reader find comfort and make them stronger. The part where Ellen Hopkins wrote about how banned books show people that they are not the only one who had these problems really stood out to me because when we read books that can connect to us, it makes the book more beautiful to ourselves because we could relate to it. I think reading banned books are very important to people.