"What effect does [the climate of censorship] have on a writer? Chilling. It's easy to become discouraged, to second-guess everything you write. There seemed to be no one to stand up to the censors...So I began to speak out about my experiences. And once I did, I found that I wasn't as alone as I'd thought."
-from Judy Blume's Introduction to Places I Never Meant to Be

Judy Blume is not alone: Many of today's most distinguished authors of books for young people have found their work censored or challenged. Eleven of them have contributed original stories to this collection. Along with a story written by the late Norma Klein when she was a student at Barnard College, they comprise a stunning literary achievement as well as a battle cry against censorship.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Censorship: A Personal View by Judy Blume
• A Letter from Joan Bertin (Executive Director, National Coalition Against Censorship)
• Meeting the Mugger by Norma Fox Mazer
• Spear by Julias Lester
• Going Sentimental by Rachel Vail
• The Red Dragonfly by Katherine Paterson
• July Saturday Jacqueline Woodson
• You Come, Too, A-Ron by Harry Mazer
• The Beast Is in the Labyrinth by Walter Dean Myers
• Ashes by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Baseball Camp by David Klass
• Love and Centipedes by Paul Zindel
• Lie, No Lie by Chris Lynch
• Something Which Is Non-Existent by Norma Klein
• About the Contributors