Finally Seen

by Kelly Yang

We fly into the library later during lunch. “They can’t just do that!” Finn roars, begging Mrs. Hollins with his eyes. “They can’t just ban a reading and yank the books away! Midsentence!” I dig my nails into my palms. It’s enraging, what just happened. After Mrs. Carter walked back inside, she collected our books, promising each and every one of us that this wasn’t over. Still, the books were gone. I shake my head, disturbed on so many levels. As a student librarian. As an Asian American. As a new immigrant, whose life mirrors those of the characters Mrs. Scott called “isolating trash.” “I am so sorry. I’ll tell you the same thing I told Mrs. Carter when she emailed me this morning—it’s unacceptable,” Mrs. Hollins says, shaking with just as much fury. Mrs. Hollins tells us that this kind of book banning has been happening in schools all over the nation, though she never expected it would happen at Winfield. “It’s flat-out censorship. And the only way to stop it is to speak up!” “But how? Where?” Finn asks. “Come to the school board meeting,” Mrs. Hollins says. “There’s going to be an emergency one in a few days. Tell them how much you love this book. They’ll want to hear from the kids—the community. Tell them why this matters.” Finn nods, fired up. But I swallow hard. Me? Speak at a board meeting? I’m too chicken to even speak up in class. I still haven’t uttered a single word to the rest of my classmates since the first day of school. And we all know how that turned out....