"You've seen headlines about banned books. In probing, anecdote-filled interviews with thirteen leading authors of books for young people, historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus goes behind the headlines to uncover the experience of having one's work challenged or banned in the United States. These thoughtful conversations include eloquent reflections on the nature of freedom of expression, the impact of censorship on individuals and society alike,...

For the first time, readers are granted access to fifty years of the author's personal writings in this posthumous collection that includes previously unpublished texts, speeches, letters, interviews and private notes, as well as key excerpts from the multi-million-copy-selling classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

"Zumrat Dawut is a mother of three in the Xinjiang autonomous region in China, who was arrested and sent to a detention facility for simply being a Muslim. There, she endured brutal living conditions, torture, interrogations, anti-Muslim propaganda, and sterilization. But that was just the beginning of Zumrat?s troubles, who with her husband would soon hatch a plan to escape to America" --back cover.