Want to Read Wednesday - Banned Books Edition

I know that on Wednesdays I usually participate in Waiting on Wednesday, but since this week is banned books week, I thought I'd switch it up a bit and talk about a few banned books that are on my TBR list.

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  Summary: Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.
  
  My Thoughts: I have to admit this book wasn't on my radar, but after reading some blog posts on how it changed people's lives, I just have to pick it up.
  
  
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
  Summary: Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal.
  
  My Thoughts: I picked up this book at Borders a couple weeks ago. I'm interested to see how the story plays out. Every kid at school is always so focused on fitting it, this seems like a refreshing story of the girl who dared to stand out.
  
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  Summary:
  Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
  
  My Thoughts: I think this book has an interesting premise. I'm trying to read more books with male narrators for my Nano research, and this looks like a great book.