Anastasia Krupnik / Lois Lowry / 113 pages / October Challenge Banned Books

Ten year old Anastasia has two lists "Thing I Love" and "Things I Hate."  She references these lists throughout the book, including deletions and additions that reflect her current crisis.  Anastasia is plucky, to say the least, and her decision to become a Catholic; her dread of the arrival of her new baby brother - One-Eye/Sam; and her romance with Washburn Cummings are entertaining and intriguing - especially to ten year old girls.  The Anastasia series continues on ALA's Top 100 Banned Books list "but much of the outrage around Anastasia has mellowed."  For the  1990-2000 list, the series was in the top 30.  In the latest list from the last decade, they've  been bumped to #75.  Some overprotective parents object "to the rare instances of risque language and references to preteen pressure, and adolescent mischief."