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Author: Ray Bradbury
Illustrator: N/A
Published: Originally in 1953 by Ballantine Books
You Should Love it Because: This book focuses on censorship. It is a dystopian novel which explores what the world would be like if books, and thus the ideas in them, were banned. Government controls what people think, say, and believe by ridding the world of these evil things called books. The job of the firemen in the book is not to stop fires but to set fires to burn books. I remember when I read this book, it put into words the reason I cherish books so much. Here's the quote that did it for me:
"There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing...I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper."
This is exactly why I created this blog to celebrate books! A person who takes the time and loving-care to create a book for the pleasure of the reader should be recognized and applauded...Especially when it's done well!
Classroom Connections: I was never required to read this book in school, but I think this would be a great addition to any required reading list. It fits well with other dystopian novels such as 1984 (Orwell), Brave New World (Huxley), Anthem (Rand), House of the Scorpion (Farmer), The Giver (Lowry), or more recently The Hunger Games trilogy (Collins). An entire semester could be devoted to studying various dystopian novels and the warnings offered by each author.
A project idea which could prove interesting is to have students write their own dystopian short stories. These could be their own version of what the world would be like if books/ideas were banned, or they could choose different topics to address.
For Further Reading:
http://www.raybradbury.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/06/ray-bradbury
