not black and white

The Fighting Ground by Avi

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction, children's

Challenge: Banned Books 2009

Review: First, a brief article about why this book was challenged and subsequently banned in a school district in Florida.

My response: Attempting to ban any book that has even one instance of a word that could even vaguely be construed as "profanity" is just silly.

In this book, Avi ably portrays the hopes and then fears of Jonathan, a young boy who suddenly finds himself fighting in the Revolutionary War. Even more interesting, after the battle is over, Jonathan is thrust into a morally complex situation where he must question which side he's on. Students will be able to sympathize with Jonathan's dilemma and will take away valuable lessons about how the world is not always drawn in black and white.