Parker and Rafe are pals at a private boarding school, sharing books and ideas. When Parker's teacher Miss Lowry finds him reading a book called 'The Well of Loneliness' and learns that the main character is a lesbian girl who dresses as a boy, she considers that it's unsuitable material for a fifteen-year-old. The headmaster is only vaguely supportive of the teacher, since this is a classic novel, but he does tell Parker to hand it over and he'll get it back at the end of the term. Parker says he's lost the book. Before long he's lent it to someone else and that boy is caught reading it; Miss Lowry confiscates the book and pins up a long list of BANNED BOOKS on the noticeboard.

The list includes 'The Color Purple', 'Of Mice And Men' and 'Lord of The Flies', some of which are textbooks for older years. 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' makes it to the list, along with 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'Naked Lunch'. The school has never been talking so much about books. Fritz is sixteen and a rebel, someone who gets concerned about politics and environmental disasters. He's read a lot, and he reckons there's money to be made by passing around copies of the banned literature, which even the library has been instructed to remove from the shelves. He asks Parker to help. "Nobody would have read any of those books normally... but now they were banned, everybody wanted them," Parker relates as he and Fritz go on a clandestine book-spreading spree.

This engaging novella tells of more than just the rebellion; Parker is out and has no trouble but a lot of self-doubt among the other boys, particularly his straight best friend Rafe. Fifteen is a difficult time; immature but maturing fast, idealistic and insecure. Rachel Astruc lives in New Zealand and with BANNED BOOKS has given us characters to cheer for and a cause to celebrate. Young people everywhere should read this book.