A lot of rural areas don’t have long library hours. It’s harder to pay for enough librarians to keep the place open all day.

That’s so gross. School libraries shouldn’t gatekeep books by grade level like that. Exceptional learners are everywhere!

Absolutely. Let kids read what THEY want in the elementary grades! I devoured Magic School Bus books because I loved the asides and funny pictures as much as the actual text. I read Encyclopedia Brown books because it was fun to see how he’d figure things out each time. I read the American Girl books because they were about ordinary kids living through important events in history. I read graphic novels because they were a nice visual “snack” in between more demanding books, and the illustrations made the stories come alive.

The way some states are banning books from school libraries is hurting children and limiting their imaginations.

I cannot imagine giving an elementary-school kid a smartphone. A flip phone for emergencies? Sure (and yes, they do still make those). A game machine with unfettered Internet access, at an age when they’re still learning time management and haven’t learned to curate their own Internet experience yet? Absolutely not.

As mean as this sounds, kids do actually need some time to be bored. It helps them develop their imaginations. And yes, reading can help.

There’s a sequel?!

Nope. I think a lot of books are terrible, but “Laz couldn’t get through them” isn’t the same as “this should not exist.”

Oh, yes, Fagin is very much an antisemitic stereotype. Sadly, antisemitism was very common back then.