Upon learning that the books with kids who look like her have been
banned by her school district, Kanzi descends into fear and
helplessness. But her classmates support her, and together--with their
teacher's help--they hatch a plan to hold a bake sale and use the
proceeds to buy diverse books to donate to libraries. The event is a big
success; the entire school participates, and the local TV station covers
it in the evening news. Prodded by her classmates to read the poem she
has written, Kanzi starts softly but finds her voice. "You have banned
important books, but you can't ban my words," she reads. "Books are for
everyone." The crowd chants, "No banned books! No banned books!" and the
next week, the ban is reversed.
Aya Khalil appends a note about how The Arabic Quilt was briefly
banned from the York, Pennsylvania school system, and the backmatter
also includes a recipe for baklawa, the Egyptian pastry that Kanzi
prepares for the bake sale.