Banned Book Club: November meeting
We will be discussing the graphic novel Drama by Raina Telgemeier.
From https://goraina.com/drama :
Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school’s production of Moon Over Mississippi, she’s a terrible singer. Instead she’s the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she’s determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn’t know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen, and when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier! Following the success of SMILE, Raina Telgemeier brings us another graphic novel featuring a diverse set of characters that humorously explores friendship, crushes, and all-around drama!
A Stonewall Honor Book
From https://goraina.com/drama :
Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school’s production of Moon Over Mississippi, she’s a terrible singer. Instead she’s the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she’s determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn’t know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen, and when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier! Following the success of SMILE, Raina Telgemeier brings us another graphic novel featuring a diverse set of characters that humorously explores friendship, crushes, and all-around drama!
A Stonewall Honor Book
Harvey Award Nominee
NPR: 5 Great Summer Reads for Teens
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012
A Washington Post Best Book of 2012
New York Times Editors’ Choice
Booklist Editors’ Choice
NPR: Graphic Novels that Flew Under the Radar
New York Public Library’s 100 Titles For Reading and Sharing
School Library Journal Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2012
From https://www.picturethispost.com/drama-banned-book-review-for-the-book-and-against-the-ban/?amp :
According to the American Library Association, the graphic novel was banned and challenged in 2014 for being “sexually explicit”, its inclusion of LGBT characters as being “confusing” and against “family values”, profanity, mature themes and “drug use”. It ranked as no.10 in 2014 as the most challenged book, and in the following years increased to no.2 in 2016, no.3 in 2017, no.5 in 2018, and no.8 in 2019. The ACLU in the state of Texas highlighted in their banned book report findings that the novel was banned from multiple high schools– and was the only book to be so – in 2016-17, including the Franklin Independent School District, Chapel Hill Elementary in Mount Pleasant, and Kirbyville Middle School.
From https://www.picturethispost.com/drama-banned-book-review-for-the-book-and-against-the-ban/?amp :
According to the American Library Association, the graphic novel was banned and challenged in 2014 for being “sexually explicit”, its inclusion of LGBT characters as being “confusing” and against “family values”, profanity, mature themes and “drug use”. It ranked as no.10 in 2014 as the most challenged book, and in the following years increased to no.2 in 2016, no.3 in 2017, no.5 in 2018, and no.8 in 2019. The ACLU in the state of Texas highlighted in their banned book report findings that the novel was banned from multiple high schools– and was the only book to be so – in 2016-17, including the Franklin Independent School District, Chapel Hill Elementary in Mount Pleasant, and Kirbyville Middle School.
In response to the novel’s banning for representing gay characters in a children’s novel, in her interview with School Library Journal, Telgemeier restated her belief that ‘sexuality is a part of your identity that doesn’t necessarily apply to what you are doing with other people when you are eight or nine years old […] If a chaste heterosexual kiss had happened in Drama, no one would have batted an eye [My] agenda is love and friendship. People will make of it what they will and I can’t let that sway the things I believe and the things I write about.’
Starts on
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 6:30 PM EST
