Rules including no junk food, a 9:00 pm curfew, homeowners restricted to painting their houses white, girls not allowed to wear shorts to school, and what finally causes the children to protest and become activists, the censorship of parts of the literature they are given to read in school. They are in 6th grade, and their teacher is the woman who has supported the ever-more-restrictive rules that exist in their small town. The story centers on three best friends: Mac, Denis, and Marci. And it’s a story that isn’t easily put down because we want to find out what happens next and how it all turns out.

“Attack of the Black Rectangles” is a powerful and emotional reading experience. Both books are inspiring, and both definitely deserve a place in every library and classroom bookshelf. We see girls being underestimated and adults who think only they know best. We see adults who want to shield the children from unpleasantness only to find that the children are determined to understand the truth and deal with it. In both novels, we meet kids who are strong and not afraid to speak out against wrongdoing. One of the books is about censorship and speaking out for what is right the other is a WWII historical fiction in which kids are told they have nothing to contribute even as spies come ashore and ships are sunk on the east coast of the US by German submarines. Both are about children who are determined to deal with problems that they are told are best left to adults.

Two books published in 2022 that on the surface seem quite different, but share an important theme, are “Attack of the Black Rectangles” by Amy Sarig King and “Island of Spies” by Sheila Turnage.

Attack of the black rectangles book