The Day They Came to Arrest the Book

Barney goes to the school library looking for a book about banned books. He asks Deirdre about it; she says it must’ve been stolen and offers to loan him her copy. They strike up a conversation about the fact that Barney wants to write books. They discuss how many books it is proper for a person to read, and Barney wonders if reading too many books is a kind of sickness, like his mother says. Deirdre replies, “…you can overdo just about anything. But not books” (43). Barney talks about how his father buys more books than he’ll ever read in his life just so he can make sure that, if he decides he wants to read a certain book, it will be there for him. The conversation turns to what their names mean and the literary stories behind their names. Barney tells Deirdre he wants to write “long, long stories” (44).

Their conversation is interrupted by Nora, who comes into the library and announces that a big controversy has erupted. Deirdre responds that she is supposed to see the principal the next morning.