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I thought this book was amazing and actually really fun to read, I enjoyed it a lot. I think what was so great about it was the humor and also just Amy Anne's growth as an individual. I think it's a realistic way for kids to think about fighting for what they believe in because it's often not easy and it can feel really scary. While I loved the ending, I wonder how realistic it can be. Especially lately with books being so frequently banned and challenged, I wish it was as easy as showing up at a school board meeting. I also wonder about having a committee judge a challenged book, because I know in some instances they will still go on to ban a book. I guess it's just it's not always this type of happy ending and I wonder what other ways there are to combat book banning.

I did a portrait of Amy Anne because I loved her character and it mostly focuses on the emotions she had towards the adults in her life and the steps she took to be brave and take a stand for what she believed in.

I think a character portrait activity is a great idea for students because it really gets them thinking about individual characters and what drove their actions in the book.

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This story is a great example of how capable children can be when they are determined to defend their point of view. I believe it is unfortunate that children feel the need to hide their literature choices because they are not perceived as ready for its content.
I chose Mrs. Spencer for my character analysis, because she was also determined to deem certain books inappropriate for children. She took on the challenge as a member of the PTA, and as a mother. I can understand her concerns as a parent, and the need to protect children from inappropriate content, but her character did not take into consideration other parent's perspectives nor those of the students.
This is a great book for young readers, and the activity helps children see the issue from different perspectives.

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This book was such a fun read. It truly got your inside Amy Anne's brain I felt like. It was exciting to read so many young souls get enthusiastic over books. I think it's a great book to demonstrate advocating for what you believe in! It shows you that if you speak up, you really can illicit some real change.

For my portrait I drew Trey. I felt that Trey was such a misunderstood character in the story. Being the child of the woman banning all the books he immediately got lumped in with her. I loved reading his friendship develop with Amy Anne, and how despite his Mom's stance he took a stand for what he felt was right. Although somewhat reserved, and judged to begin with Trey was a very crucial part of the story.

Having your students create a Character Portrait is a great way to see what your students took away from the story, which characters specifically spoke to them.

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I thought that this book was super interesting and felt that it was really cool to read this book from a childrens point of view and all about books being banned. It was very informative as well as educational and got very important points across. I loved the themes that were presented throughout the book. I think having this book in my future classroom would reall benefit my students and promote standing up for what you believe in and showing you should voice your opinions.

The character that I chose for my portrait was the main character Amy Anne. Amy Anne is frustrated by this and feels that the books should not be banned just because some people disagree with their content. She decides to take matters into her own hands and starts a secret banned book library out of her locker, lending books to her classmates who want to read them. Throughout the book, Amy Anne faces many challenges, including getting caught by her parents and the school administration, dealing with bullies who try to steal her books, and trying to persuade her friends to stand up for what they believe in. Despite these challenges, Amy Anne remains committed to her cause and ultimately succeeds in getting the banned books back into the school library. Along the way, she learns important lessons about the power of books and the importance of standing up for what you believe in.

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I really enjoyed this book because it showed some different perspectives. I think we often leave the children out of the equation. However, this argument is all about the children, they should be our number one priority. The main character was essential to this book because we get the perspective of the student and their feelings towards matters that affect them directly.
The character I chose was Mrs. Sarah Spencer. This character was Treys mother and also part of the PTA. She really focused on herself and only her opinions mattered. He claims were that some of the books in the library were unsafe to children. Sometimes they talked about inappropriate things or they taught students bad behaviors. I think she tried to sway the board with her personality.
I believe this book was very effective and an easy read. Students could easily relate to it. The character herself was relatable because she hung out in the library and just wanted to read. I believe that some students could relate to this main character.

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I found this book exciting and interesting. It's all about us standing up for what is right, and making sure that we fight against books getting banned. This would be a great book to read in any classroom. It can help students understand how important their beliefs are.

I loved the main character Amy Anne, which is why I decided to do my portrait activity on her. She is determined, and tough, especially for being so young. She stands up for herself and her beliefs.

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It is very interesting to read from the point of view of a child about books being banned. There are so many books mentioned in this book that are banned for reasons that don't necessarily make sense. I think that the story sends a good message that children should be a part of the decisions when it comes to banning books period I understand that there are some books that are not appropriate for children, but a lot of these books on the list are on there for not good reasons.
For my character portrayal I chose the main character Amy Anne, who is a 9 year old girl who takes lead of books that are being banned in her school. For her head I put that anyone should be able to read what they want, obviously within reason. For her hands I put that she spoke at school meetings she spread awareness to books, she read all of the books on the banned list, and she helped other students access these books as well. for her character characteristics I put that she was courageous, smart, strong, driven, love to read, and was a good friend. Even when put under pressure she does not rat out her friends and shows that she is trustworthy and reliable.
I think that this book brings awareness that not all books that are banned in schools are bad books for children to read.

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I really thought the plot of this book was interesting because I have never seen a childrens book, or younger audience book with this kind of message. This book was incredibly educational but was still portrayed in an age appropriate way. The story line was interesting and lays a good message to students that is worthwhile. Standing up for what you believe in is a great message that stems from this book, and just the knowledge about banned books and how some books are banned but really shouldn't be is important for students to be aware of.
I decided to portray the main character Amy Anne who I feel did a great job from as a student to stand up for her self and advocate this banned books that were going on. In my portrait I knew in her head she was wanting to make a change and she was wanting to unban these books, she was also trying to create allies and spread the postive message from certain books. In her heart she was feeling powerful and confident. With her hands she attended board meetings and reached out to peers and teachers.
This character activity was really fun and engaging. Even though I am a very bad drawer I still feel like I was able to get the intended goal out of this activity. I think its important for students to be able to dive into the hearts and minds of their characters they are reading in the book, and this activity did a great job at that.

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I really enjoyed reading this book not only because of the plot but also because of the message it gives readers. I think this book would be very appropriate to have in the classroom due to the empowering message of finding ones voice and using it when you believe in something. I see alot of myself in Amy Anne because I was always the kid who loved to read. This story really focuses on standing up for what you think is right and using your voice to support your ideas.
I chose to follow Amy Anne for my character analysis because of the way she uses her voice for something she believes in. Not only does she use her voice in a postive way but she doesnt back down when others may disagree with her. These are all skills that students should be encaouraged to use if they are passionate about something. I think this way of doing a character map would be very beneficial for my future classroom as it helps students dive deeper into different aspects of a characters journey.

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I really enjoyed reading this book, it was not only a fun read but it was also very informational and educational. I think this would be a great book to have in the classroom for kids, I really think they could benefit from a story like this. Students need to understand the importance of believing in yourself as well as your beliefs and standing up for what you believe in.

In my character, In the arms I explained how she went to board meetings to express how she felt and what she believes in. In the heart I added that Amy Anne is strong, courageous, passionate, outspoken, brave, but also timid and insecure at times. In the head I explained what I thought Amy was thinking, I said, "I can read whatever I want! I believe in myself and I will stand up for my beliefs."

Again, I loved this book and believe it would be a great read for the classroom to students.

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I personally really did enjoy reading this book! I think the message it has behind it is very powerful and is a good model for students to witness and understand. It is so important for students to know it is important for them to be brave and willing to speak up, so being able to witness someone around their age speaking up for what they believe is an inspiration. Amy is that inspiration in this book for young students and she shows how even though it is tough being in uncomfortable situations it is ok to step in and say what you feel and believe.
For my character portrait activity, I chose to analyze Amy Anne Ollinger. She is the main character in the book Ban This Book who shows it is ok to stand up for what you believe in. In my portrait I wrote how she felt the anger and scariness, but through that she was brave and courageous to have meetings with the school board and create the banned book library. In her thoughts, I showed how she used her bravery to believe in herself to speak up.
I think this activity is very effective for students because it helps them better analyze the characters and what the character does for the message of the story. This activity is also a way for students to share what they believe the character is portraying by making connections with the character. Also, the book Ban This Book is also effective to students because it again portrays the message that is ok to speak up for what you believe in. I will definitely use this activity and this book in my classroom one day because it is fun, but also extremely educational and purposeful.

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This was a great read! Not only was it fun to read, it was also very informative. It was good for me to read, but I  also think it would be very beneficial for students to read as well. I like how much this story promoted standing up for what you believe in and voicing your opinions.

In the hands of Amy Anne, I wrote that she made the library as well as attended the meetings to voice her strong opinions. Amy Anne knew what she believed in and went for what she wanted. In the heart, I included courage, strong believer, determined, loyal, and brave. There were all things that her actions made her feel. In the head, I pointed out that she was a girl who knew what she wanted and took action towards getting what she believed was right.

This would be a very good read for students. It has a very strong message that all students can learn from. The message is coming from one of the main characters, which would make it very beneficial for students to do this activity. Deep diving into different aspects of one specific character will help students gather more information and gain a deeper understanding.

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I liked this book. I think that it was a great way to tell a story that is very relevant to students. I love the theme of perseverance that is seen in the book. I loved to read when I was younger so I could see myself as Amy Anne. I really enjoyed the character development in this book especially between Amy Anne and Trey.
My character portrait is of Trey. I chose to analyze Trey for this activity because I think that he had a really unique point of view on the situation with his mom being the one who is banning books and his classmate working against his mom to create a banned book library. In my character portrait I drew some of the conflicts that Trey could be feeling in the book. I wrote about how he feels sad because his mom's actions are upsetting a classmate. I also wrote about how he helps Amy Anne.
Completing this character portrait activity could be a very effective activity in the classroom. It helped me to make connections to the characters and I also think that it helps to put the story in perspective. When working on this activity it pushed me to put myself in the shoes of the characters. This would be a great activity for students to complete and share with each other. It could also help students with comprehension as this make connections and reflect on the story.

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I really enjoyed reading Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.  This book is very powerful and it has a very strong message.  It is about Amy Anne Ollinger who is a nine year old girl.  She found out that her favorite book in the library got banned and made changes because of this.  She created her own library and talked about this issue in front of her local school board.  This book has a good message, of standing up for what you believe and showing that you can do anything you want.

For my character, I did Amy Anne Ollinger. I used my drawing to represent how Amy was a strong character with good morals. I also used it to show how she used her platforms to speak up on this issue and make real change in her community. I also shared how she created her own library with banned books as another way she fought against the book ban.

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I really enjoyed being able to read this book. It is so inspiring for myself and the future kids in my classroom to read. It portrays a message that isn't talked about enough in school. After seeing all the books that were banned when I read them in high school really interest me. I never would have thought that reading a book that all students in high school forwarded to would be banned.
I decided to write my character analysis about Amy Anne. The thoughts in this book were mainly from her perspective. She showed qualities that take a lot of courage in a young girl to do. I felt like her message was very important to show. She was sad, anxious, but also passionate. All she wanted was to be able to read the books that got banned and her standing up for herself and her classmates was an inspirational message.
The effectiveness that this character analysis portrait will have on students will encourage them to dive deeper in the characters. When we read a book it can easy for us to just look at the surface level of the person. By doing this we can dive deeper into their thoughts and feelings.

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I really liked the book Ban This Book. It was a very good story about how you should stand up for what you believe in and not let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. This includes what books you can read. Many books are being banned right now, so I think this book is very relatable to the times we are living in right now. I thought the way Amy Anne created her own library was kind of clever. I liked how she was able to stand up for herself and be courageous enough to not just let everything go and not do anything about it. I think this book would be great to have in my future classroom to teach my students how they should not let other people tell them what they can or cannot read.

I decided to write about Amy Anne. The thoughts she thought about were mainly about her favorite books being banned and her library of banned books in her locker. The things that she used her hands for are mainly collecting items and things for her banned books library. As for how she felt, I included that she felt sad, mad, and frustrated at first when she found out about her favorite book being banned. As well as being loyal to her friends and feeling like she needs to stand up for herself and her rights to being able to read her favorite book. As for her hands and what she did I included a lot about her getting supplies and books for her collection, as well as protecting her friends who helped her and getting suspended.

I think this book is very effective and can spread a great message to students about reading what you want to and not letting random people decide what you can or cannot read. This character portrait is very important, because it can make it so students have to analyze a character in a way where you look at them from how they felt, what they did, and what they were thinking. It can give you a different perspective of looking at a character and what happened with them in the book.

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From the book Ban This Book by Alan Grantz, I chose the character Amy Anne Ollinger. I thought this book was a perfect representation of a student stepping up for what they believe and showing how it can be uncomfortable sometimes and nerve-racking. You walk through someone else's shoes at the end of the story, and it is so fun to experience. This book is a great read for the classroom because it shows students how to stand up for what they believe in and step out of their comfort zones. This activity is great for students to do with this book because it lets them step into the characters shoes and have to show how that character felt and had to do with their hands. It's a perfect way to get a good analysis of the book and characters.

For my character I did Amy Anne Ollinger. I showed what thought process she had by giving a quote from the book and with her hands gave times that she had to use them by going to school board meetings or creating a locker library on the Banned books. In her heart I showed what she could've been feeling throughout different times of the story like stress or confidence.

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I really enjoyed having the opportunity to read the story Ban This Book. I think that the message behind this story is so powerful, and that it has a great opportunity to inspire future generations. This book is a story about Amy a nine year old girl who found out that her favorite book was banned at her elementary school. In this story, she started out as a shy, and quiet girl and in the end of the story she turned into a true leader who learned how to speak up for what she believed in. I believe that this book would be a great book to have and read in my future classroom because it can teach my students that no matter how old they are, they can make a difference or change and stand up for what they believe is right.

For my character analysis, I decided to follow Amy Ann Ollinger while following along and reading this story. I chose to follow Amy because of her strength and bravery that was portrayed throughout this story. I really liked her personality traits that were represented in this story. In my character analysis image, I included her personality traits in the heart, the important theme on her head, and the actions she took throughout the story on both of her hands. I think that through this activity I was able to analyze the story on a different level, and I will remember this activity to do with my future students in my classroom.

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I really enjoyed Ban This Book! The message that it shares is so strong and I think that it is so important for younger children to see what happens when you are brave and courageous. Standing up for what you think is right will always get you farther in life. Amy was a nine year old girl who took a big step and decided to speak up about her favorite book being banned in her elementary school. She knows that other people cannot make these decisions for her so she builds to bravery and courage to stand up to the school board at the meeting held. For students to hear this story is so important as it could spark an interest in them to speak up and stand out for what they believe is right.

I decided to follow Amy Ann Ollinger while I read this book. I decided to follow her because I loved her power and bravery that she showed throughout the entire book and it made me want to do my character analysis on her. I really felt that her emotions were so well represented in the text that it was so easy to represent her hands, head, and heart. I feel that I learned a lot through this activity and think that it would be one that would be very easy to do with my class as it allows them to focus deeper on a particular character, which also forces them to understand the text better and really have that strong message stick. Overall, I think it is so important to do character analysis to really get a deeper understanding of the text.

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I really enjoyed reading the story Ban This Book. It is an inspiring story about a 9-year-old girl who stepped out of her comfort zone after discovering her favorite book was banned. Throughout this story we follow this girl that started out as a shy quiet-spoken girl to embracing her natural ability to lead and rallying together her classmates to make a difference. I believe this book would be amazing to read in my future classroom. It inspired children to step out of their comfort zones and stand up for what they believe to be true.

For my character analysis, I chose to look closer at the main character, Amy Anne Ollinger. I included what I personally believed to be the most significant actions she took in her hands. As well as what I believe is a summary of her thoughts and what she felt in her heart.
This character analysis activity is an amazing way to ensure that students truly understand who the character is. As well as helping them to understand the story on a deeper level by looking at the story through a specific character's lens.

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In the book Ban this Book by Alan Gratz it was about a girl named Amy Anne who had a favorite book that was getting banned from the school. Amy Anne was angry and mad and so she did something about it. I love this book because it provides such a strong overall theme and message to children to stand up for what you believe in and to do it in a manner that is respectful, but will also encourage change. Amy Anne helps to show the impact of collaboration with peers and with supervisors.

I personally decided to analyze Trey. He is not the main character of the story, but he is also a character that played a part within the story. He realized that Amy was upset about the book being banned, and understood that his mom was part of the problem. Knowing this information, he decided to go against his mom and help Amy Anne to hand out forms and ban books in the library to prove a point. Overall, Trey showed not only his love for books, but also kindness in helping Amy Anne.

This activity is extremely effective for kids to participate in because it allows them to really dive into characters and their personal roles within books. By allowing students to not only look at how the characters feel, what their thoughts are and what they physically do we can discover a deeper meaning of the character and see a new meaning of the book. This personally helped me to really see myself in this characters position and helped me to feel his emotions and his personal thoughts within the book. I would love to use this activity in my future classroom for different books that I want my students to look at characters and character development throughout the book.

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I decided to analyze Amy Anne Ollinger from the book Ban This Book. This portrait represents every part of her inside and out. Her heart is full of passion and traits she carries and may not even recognize. She shows courage and bravery when standing up to the school board. Despite her composed and quiet self, Amy is able to use the best parts of herself to get the books back.

This story is such a great one for young children to read due to its authentic and empowering themes. It is so important to stand up for what we believe in and do so in a respectful manner. Amy Anne represents this idea well with her actions and collaboration with peers and supervisors.

This activity is extremely effective for young students. It allows them to apply their own thoughts and ideas to the knowledge about a book they have read. I personally was able to connect themes within the book to themes in my own life through this portrait analysis. I also felt myself growing closer to the character Amy Anne and felt empathy ad compassion toward her and her situation. I will definitely carry this activity into my own future classroom.