Garden, Nancy. 1999. The year they burned the books. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN: 0-374-38667-6.
Jamie Crawford is the editor of her high school paper her senior year. The year is full of excitement and battles. Since the school has adopted "liberal" health ed curriculum (which openly discusses such things as homosexuality) and adopted a plan to give out condoms in the nurses' office, the school�and the paper has come under attack by the more traditional families in the community. Jamie, along with fellow writer Terry, take these issues very seriously. They are both "maybes" or "probablys." That is, they have felt that they were gay for several years now. They take comfort in each other's company. They provide necessary support for one another�especially in the school's hostile environment. Many students are openly opposed�and very hateful�towards homosexuals. These bullies go beyond name-calling (which is terrible enough) but proceed to threats as well. For example, some students leave nasty notes and messages in their lockers. What makes matters worse is that these hateful people are using the banner of Christianity to sanction their actions.
The book treats the issue of homosexuality and the issue of censorship. Both issues are very important topics in today's world. A few people in the book decide that they have the right, authority, and responsibility to decide what everyone should be allowed to read. Censorship is a dangerous thing�as this book clearly shows.
The book does move beyond its issues. The characters are not just an excuse to discuss the issues�they are worthy in their own rights.
While I feel this book is well written or "important" in many respects, I don't necessarily like this novel. I have a strong distaste for books that present inaccurate or overly exaggerated or stereotypical images of Christianity. I have yet to find a non-Christian book present Christians in a positive light. Society seems to take the absolute worst-case examples of "so-called" Christians and try to make them "the typical." Granted, I wasn't expecting fair representation of Christianity in this novel. After all, I expect a great deal of tension between these two communities. However, it disappoints me just the same. I have similar feelings towards True Believer the sequel to Make Lemonade. (True Believer simply outraged me.) Therefore, I would give hesitant recommendation to this novel. If I were in a public library (or public school library) then I would probably have this book on the shelf. I would not censor this book simply because I didn't care for it. However, I would not have it in my own personal collection, or in the collection at a private school.
Culture Six is an assortment of miscellaneous cultures.