Memoirs of a Bookbat [Hardcover]

Kathryn Lasky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1994 | Age Level: 11 and up

Fourteen-year-old Harper, an avid reader of fantasy who must hide her books from her fundamentalist parents, comes to realize that their public promotion of censorship threatens her freedom to make her own choices.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Honey," Harper's mother says to her sweetly, "You're no longer just a migrant for God. You're on his rescue squad." Harper, a highly intelligent teenager given to irony, tells how she ended up leaving her Christian fundamentalist family in this first-person narrative. Ever since her parents have been "reborn," the family has been traveling all over the country in their Roadmaster, speaking out against blasphemy, especially the kind found in C. S. Lewis's Narnia tales, Judy Blume's books and textbooks that teach evolution. But while giving off the outward impression that she is a believer too, Harper is actually a secret devotee of all the books her parents despise ("Are you there Judy? It's me, Harper," she says at one point). Harper's eventual escape is partially inspired by her correspondence with an author of fantasy stories. In this very smart (and somewhat acerbic) book, Newbery honoree Lasky ( Double Trouble Squared ; The Night Journey ) combines fictional characters with real-life authors and religious groups (such as Operation Rescue) to create a credible and entertaining story of an emerging independent thinker. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-In a problematic story with a cast of disappointing, one-dimensional characters and a plot that misses the mark, Harper Jessup, 14, hides her love of books and reading from her Christian fundamentalist parents. Told as a flashback as she runs away to a grandmother in Georgia, the girl reflects on her life. When her unemployed, angry father and desperate, placating mother find comfort and financial reward in the church, they embark on careers as missionaries for F.A.C.E.(Family Action for Christian Values) and F.I.S.T.(Families Involved in Saving Traditional Values) and take to the road in a spiffy recreational vehicle to preach the gospel of book censorship. Meanwhile, Harper continues her secret life of reading, her only solace. When the family finally settles in California, she makes a too-good-to-be-true first friend, and he helps her make her escape when her parents and the church encourage her younger sister and a friend to write an anti-Semetic letter to JEWdy Blume and force the girls to become active in an anti-abortion campaign. For a person so immersed in reading and ideas, Harper never questions the fact that her parents' religious involvement is more monetary than spiritual. Compared with the fundamentalist family and church members in Lois Ruby's Miriam's Well (Scholastic, 1993), whose actions are a constant testament to their deep, abiding faith, Harper's church and family are unconvincing. Just as the girls are manipulated by the adults around them, so readers are manipulated through this heavy-handed anticensorship tract.
Alice Casey Smith, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, Manalapan, NJ
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books (J); 1st edition (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152157271
• ISBN-13: 978-0152157272
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,236,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi Readers! Thanks for coming by my author page. I've written all sorts of books - from fantasy about animals to books about science. One of my favorite animal fantasy series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, is a major motion picture. I liked writing about Ga'Hoole so much that I decided to revisit that world in a new series, Wolves of the Beyond. Visit my website, www.kathrynlasky.com to see a slide show about the real wolves I researched for the series and for the latest update on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole movie. All my best, Kathryn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It could have been great..., April 8, 2001

By 

arkm (Kendall Park, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memoirs of a Bookbat (Paperback)

Even as a person who completely disagrees with book banning and censorship in general, I found this book to be a little heavy-handed. Harper and Gray, admittedly, are great characters, but occasionally they just seem too perfect, especially Gray and his family. Harper's parents and their friends, on the other hand, are simply narrow minded and too obsessive about their religion to pay any attention to anything else- you never get the sense that they could be even vaguely nice. Some of the descriptions are good, the concept is great,and Gray's answering machine messages are very funny and lighten things up a lot, but the flatness of the characters and the obviousness of the plot gives it an overall unrealistic feeling. And as much as I disagree with censorship, I don't need the message thrown in my face so hard.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Memoirs of a Bookbat" is definitely worth your while, March 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Memoirs of a Bookbat (Paperback)

I have been a long-time fan of Kathryn Lasky, but I have to say that this must be her best book yet. It paints a very realistic picture of a girl whose freedom is oppressed by censorship. I read this book in one day, yet still completely absorbed it and savored it. To anybody who thinks (or does not think, at for that matter)that books should be banned, read "Memoirs of a Bookbat". It is a real eye- opener.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A haunting narrative with vital questions, July 15, 2002

By 

marina alcantar (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memoirs of a Bookbat (Paperback)

Religion, adolescence,and Briar Rabbit? Intriguing and thought provoking, this novel is without a doubt the pinnacle of what religion can do if taken to the extreme. Harper doesn't want the past of her parents to come back but at what price are they all happy? As religion takes a firm grip on her life she is slammed with censorship and her beloved books are deemed satanic. Her references to fiction and books made me think twice about the depth of her fantasy world. Writing to authors seems the whimsical thoughts of children and she does in fact view much of her life through a child's eyes. Dealing with the theory of evolution and sin Harper is torn between two fantasy worlds, her parents and her own. Dragged by her parents on their "quest" she encounters an ally in her sanctuary and finds grounds she never knew existed. Only read this book with an open mind, you will view religion more diffrently than you ever thought possible.