Suggested Reading by Dave Connis

Clara believes passionately that books change lives. When her school quietly bans more than fifty novels, she decides she's not going to take it lying down and starts a secret library.


As a bookseller, I loved the idea behind this novel, that stories can connect people. I also love the dominoes theory; that something one person does can cause so many other things to happen, usually without the first person even knowing.

The characters were great in this novels, too. I loved how supportive they were of Clara, including the teachers and even a few people I wasn't expecting. All around, a great novel and one I'll love to recommend. (And laugh when it inevitably gets banned...)

The only slightly unbelievable thing was how much use her UnLib got, even with a few people talking her up. But then, maybe I'm just jaded by my own school library, which checked out five books in a busy week...

Clara Evans is horrified when she discovers her principal’s “prohibited media” hit list. The iconic books on the list have been pulled from the library and aren’t allowed anywhere on the school’s premises. Students caught with the contraband will be sternly punished.

Many of these stories have changed Clara’s life, so she’s not going to sit back and watch while her draconian principal abuses his power. She’s going to strike back.

So Clara starts an underground library in her locker, doing a shady trade in titles like Speak and The Chocolate War. But when one of the books she loves most is connected to a tragedy she never saw coming, Clara’s forced to face her role in it.

Will she be able to make peace with her conflicting feelings, or is fighting for this noble cause too tough for her to bear?