Audiobook Review & Author Interview: Building 903 by Lois Lowry, Banned Together and the Unite to Read Project with Alyssa Chrisman, and Why This Moment Needs It All
Books have always been one of the first things power tries to control, and the people who fight back have always been the ones who refused to accept that as inevitable. Building 903 by Lois Lowry, out September 29th, is a book about that refusal, written by an 89-year-old author who has spent her career putting young people at the center of that fight. The paperback of Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights, out tomorrow, is a collection of fifteen authors and illustrators doing the same thing in the real world. And the Unite to Read Project at Ohio State is the infrastructure behind some of that real world work, including contributions from my wife Alyssa, who I asked some questions! I am bringing these things together here to share about the moment we are living in and how we, as readers, can rise to the challenge.
Building 903
by Lois LowryPublished by: Clarion Books
on September 29, 2026
Genres: Middle Grade
Bookshop, Audiobook Libro.FM
Goodreads
In the tradition of her bestselling, award-winning phenomenon, The Giver, Lois Lowry delivers a story about censorship, comfort, complicity, and the radical power of books to open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful the imagination.Twins Tessa and Theo live in a world ruled by the tyrannical Koziris, where there are no dangers or rebels... or so they've been told. In this world, citizens live long lives, and while many hate Koziris, they are comfortable and safe. So, when Tessa's brother disappears, nobody wants to discuss it. But then Miriam, their 135-year-old neighbor bound for the retirement community, slips Tessa a key—not only to her brother's disappearance, but to the source of all real magic . . . books. As Tessa and her parents begin their search for Theo, Tessa learns that books not only tell us stories—they open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful the imagination. Once that truth has been revealed, Tessa won't be able to rest until she has retrieved her twin and society itself has been transformed.
Two-time Newbery-winner Lois Lowry has crafted a narrative that feels at once prescient and in this world, the imagination is the revolution. Not only does Building 903 sit in the same resonant space as The Giver Quartet, but it is also a profound addition to Lois's enduring body of work—and a testament to the strength and value of her voice, vision, and legacy.
Review
One of my most treasured possessions is a special edition of The Giver Quartet signed by Lois Lowry. I randomly saw online that, at one point, if you sent her a book, she would sign it and send it back. And she did! I have read those books more times than I can count and they have never stopped meaning something. So when Building 903 turned up as a Libro.fm ALC (TY, as always), I did not approach it with any kind of chill.
Building 903 is set in 2099, in an America where books have been banned for so long that the twins at the center of the story, Tessa and Theo, have never seen one. Their elderly neighbor Miriam slips Tessa a key before she is taken to a retirement community, and what that key unlocks is the source of what the regime has been trying to erase: not just books, but imagination itself. The building of the title is where books scheduled for destruction are stored. That is where everything begins.
The audiobook pacing is clean and the story moves with the same quiet urgency that made The Giver feel like it was happening to you rather than to Jonas. I listened to it in one sitting while I did yard work.
Lois has said in interviews that she gave this book a happy ending, which she did not give The Giver, because she needed to put a happy ending on something right now (vibes). She said she is not seeing one coming in real life any time soon (🥴). That is the most Lois Lowry thing I have ever read and also the most devastating. She is 89 years old and she is still writing books about what happens when power decides that stories are dangerous, because power keeps deciding that, and she keeps showing up to say something about it. Can we give her a rest!?
What Lois is really writing about is complicity. The citizens in Building 903 hate their leader but they are comfortable and safe and they have found no way to rid themselves of him. The book asks what it takes to move from hating a system to actually doing something about it, and it answers that question the way the best children’s literature always does: by putting a young person at the center who decides that knowing the truth is not enough, that you have to do something with it.
But the youth cannot be the ones to save us; we have to set their future up rather than expecting them to build it from the ashes.
The Fight for Readers’ Rights
Which brings me to one more thing worth shouting about. The paperback of Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights, edited by Ashley Hope Pérez and out tomorrow (and reviewed previously by us!), includes new resources added for this edition, and my wife Alyssa is credited among the contributors. She added several new pieces, including a guide on finding your advocacy style to take part in fighting book bans and a curated list of mental health books to consider, because mental health books are often targeted (especially by queer and authors of color!).
Alyssa also works on the Unite to Read Project at Ohio State University, a three-year Mellon Foundation-funded initiative that partners with Unite Against Book Bans to build book resumes for challenged and banned titles and to support communities in fighting censorship at the local level (I know, we are so cute both being in this space lol). I asked her some questions to help our little corner of the internet with fighting book censorship in their communities.
Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights
by Ashley Hope Pérez, Debbie FongPublished by: Holiday House
on August 11, 2026
Bookshop
Goodreads
A dazzling YA anthology that spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read, featuring the voices of 15 diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators.
Books are disappearing from shelves across the country. What does this mean for authors, illustrators, and—most crucially—for young readers?
This bold collection of fiction, memoir, poetry, graphic narratives, essays, and other genres explores book bans through various lenses, and empowers teens to fight back. From moving personal accounts to clever comebacks aimed at censorship, fifteen legendary YA authors and illustrators confront the high-stakes question of what is lost when books are kept from teens.
Contributors include Elana K. Arnold, Nikki Grimes, Ellen Hopkins, Kelly Jensen, Brendan Kiely, Maia Kobabe, Bill Konigsberg, Kyle Lukoff, MariNaomi, Trung Lê Nguyen, Ashley Hope Pérez, Isabel Quintero, Traci Sorell, Robin Stevenson, and Padma Venkatraman; the collection is a star-studded must-read that packs strength and power into every last word.
Striking illustrations from Ignatz-nominated artist Debbie Fong pair perfectly with the searing, impactful narrative. Resources include tips from the Vandegrift Banned Book Club and other teen activists, as well as extensive recommended book lists, a How to Start Your Own Little Free Library flier, and more.
Interview with Professor Chrisman
You are implementing a Mellon Foundation grant at Ohio State through the Unite to Read Project. For people who have never heard of it, what does your project hope to achieve?
The Unite to Read Project is a three-year initiative that focuses on fighting book bans through reader-centered advocacy. Our director, author Ashley Hope Pérez, was directly affected by the post-COVID influx of book bans when her Printz honor novel Out of Darkness was targeted by book banning groups. URP facilitates and creates our own events and resources, and we provide material, informational, and relational support to book defenders and partner organizations across the United States for their own advocacy work. Our goal is to uplift literature and authors without inadvertently affirming the accusations that book banners make, meaning we focus on the merit and value of these works, not just the fact that they are censored. We hope to anchor all our efforts in a culture of care and creativity that results in advocacy that is both joyful and sustainable.
Book resumes are one of the most concrete tools coming out of Unite to Read. What is a book résumé and how does someone use one when a book is being challenged in their community?
Book résumés are a free resource from Unite Against Book Bans, an initiative of the American Library Association, that highlight important information about books that can be used by teachers, librarians, parents, and community advocates to select literature and support access to books when faced with challenges and bans. Basically, book résumés highlight all the amazing qualities of a book and what it will bring to its job of being read by readers. They also provide examples of times a book has successfully been returned to shelves or beat a ban. If a book is being challenged in your community, you can use a book résumé to understand the literary merit of the book and defend its place on library or classroom shelves. You can also use them to discover books you might be interested in and find resources related to the book to amplify your reading experience. One initiative we are currently working on is adding reader responses to the résumés to illustrate the positive effects these books have had on their audiences. If you would like to share a testimony of what a book has meant to you, please reach out to unitetoread@osu.edu.
A lot of people want to fight book bans but do not know where to start, especially in smaller communities where it can feel hopeless. What does the Unite to Read Project offer someone in that situation, and what is the most effective first step they can take?
In today’s political climate, it can feel like new fires are kindled daily, multiplying faster than we can extinguish them. If we try to conquer every issue all at once, it can quickly become unsustainable and we can burn out ourselves while the fires around us continue. We need to make sure we feed our own advocacy flames. To me, joy is our heat, creativity is our fuel, and grounding ourselves in our values of why books matter is our oxygen.
The URP wants people to know that there is a large community of readers, teachers, authors, and community members working to defend literature, and that any action helps. The smartest thing we can do is choose how to act based on our capacity, individual strengths and skills, and energy levels. Here are some ideas:
- If you want to connect with literature, buy a book by a living author affected by book bans for yourself or a friend, or check one out from your local library.
- If you want to learn more about book bans, learn about the history of the attack on public education and how teachers and librarians are affected and fighting back, and follow updates on book bans and educational censorship from PEN America.
- If you want a quick advocacy win, reach out to the Unite to Read Project at unitetoread@osu.edu to volunteer to create a book résumé or share a reader testimony.
- If you want to support book access in your local context, learn about what bills are affecting students’ right to read and write to your local legislators about why protecting book access is important. Honesty for Ohio Education is a great resource and model.
- If you are feeling burned out, take fifteen minutes to unplug from technology and create something. You might journal about your favorite book, design a bookmark, or write a snarky letter to a book banner (you do not have to send it!). Who knows? Maybe you will lose track of time and that fifteen minutes will turn into thirty.
Alyssa and a colleague were selected as potential panelists to talk about censorship at SXSW and need our votes! You do have to sign up for an account in order to vote (pretty easy – sign up and confirm your email) but I know they would appreciate if you did!
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