From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-"A Small Civil War" erupts in the town of Owanka, IA, when Mr. Fairchild Brady, chairman of the city council, instructs Stanley Sopwith, "a founding father of the local New Right," to report to the council on whether The Grapes of Wrath should be removed from the 10th-grade curriculum at Owanka High School. Thirteen-year-old Georgia Van Buren, mature beyond her years, becomes irate over the issue and leads a personal battle to make the public aware of this threat to the First Amendment rights of her fellow students. As an eighth grader, Georgia hasn't read the book, but she worries about what other titles will come under attack if these men win their fight. During the battle, the high-school librarian is forced to resign, families are split over the issue, and friendships are shattered. Originally published in 1981 under the same title, this revision has a different point of view, but the quality of the book hasn't been improved. The characters are still unbelievable, often expounding on ideas with dialogue that is fake and unconvincing. Even the little romance that develops between Georgia and 16-year-old Con Arrand is manipulated to lure teen readers into the story. While Georgia loses her battle, there is never any doubt which side Neufeld is supporting. Like Richard Peck's The Last Safe Place on Earth (Delacorte, 1995), Kathryn Lasky's Memoirs of a Bookbat (Harcourt, 1994), Julian Thompson's The Trials of Molly Sheldon (Holt, 1995), and Nat Hentoff's The Day They Came to Arrest the Book (Dell, 1983), Neufeld's plot is constructed to drive home a message about freedom of speech. While the conflict in each of these novels is timely, Hentoff still offers the most intriguing and believable story.
Pat Scales, Greenville Middle School, SCCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 7^-10. First published in 1981, this novel has been changed considerably for its 1996 rebirth. Georgia, who was 14, is now 13; the narrative is now in the third person, with Georgia as protagonist, rather than in the somewhat breathless first-person viewpoint of older sister, Ava, whose love life was a major factor; the older twin brothers in college have been eliminated, which avoids tackling an unnecessary gay issue. Much of the dialogue remains intact; however, sometimes it is said by another character. In short, extraneous details have been vanquished and references to real-life events have been updated or generalized. All of this tightens the story and allows it to concentrate on the issue of censorship, as we follow Georgia's wrath and activism after
The Grapes of Wrath is challenged at her high school. If you have the original, do you want this? Probably. The new version is the better book, and just think of the uses for the two together for creative-writing assignments.
Sally Estes
