When I check my email during club block, I find a reply from Jane Yolen. This is not what I ever expected.

Dear Mac,

Thank you for contacting me about your experience with censorship of The Devil’s Arithmetic. Aren’t grown-ups strange?

I’ve written more than four hundred books and I’ve had some weird things happen. Some people burned a copy of my Briar Rose on the steps of the Kansas City Board of Education one time. It was a story of the Holocaust and included a gay character. So censorship is not a stranger to me. I am sorry your school is trying to keep you from perfectly normal words. I am glad you are working to fix the problem.

I’m also sorry to hear about your dad breaking your mom’s mug. That must be hard. Some people have a lot of anger. I’m glad you’re channeling yours in the right direction.

Remember, Mac, that sometimes we lose the fight. Don’t let it discourage you. There will be other fights that you will win.

My best,

Jane Yolen

I reply to her right away.

Dear Ms. Yolen,

Thank you for writing back to me!

I’m sorry they burned your book. I don’t understand how people can’t see that hating something that much is bad for them. My grandad says most people are running from shame.

We found out that it was our teacher who censored our books. She didn’t think reading the word “breasts” was good for her classroom and said the girls would feel uncomfortable and the boys would laugh. I have a friend named Marci and she says that this is why we need feminism—because small thinking like this limits girls to being embarrassed for normal things like their bodies, and it limits boys from growing up and getting more mature. I think she’s right.

We didn’t get new reading copies from the school, and the school board is meeting again next Tuesday to decide what to do. In the meantime my grandad bought me a new copy so I could read the book the way you wrote it.

Thanks again for writing back to me. You didn’t have to do that, but you did. I really loved the book, by the way. I mean, it was so hard to read about the Holocaust but it’s always good to learn the truth of things. That’s my mission in life. To teach the truth of things.

I think lies are the same as crossing out words in a book. I mean, isn’t it a lie to think you know better than everyone else?

Sincerely,

Mac Delaney

I proofread my reply and hit SEND. I feel bad for not sharing any of this with Marci and Denis but they didn’t know about the first letter anyway, and even though they know my dad left town, I still don’t want to tell them about the mug.