msnbc.com
Velshi Banned Book Club: ‘Last Night at the Telegraph Club’ by Malinda Lo
Written in vivid detail with nuanced characters and artistic restraint characteristic of Lo, the hugely celebrated and widely acclaimed “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” is a poignant story of self-discovery and first love. Under the heavy shroud of McCarthyism and persecution of LGBTQ+ Americans - known now as the Lavender Scare - Lily bears the weight of her family, her Chinese-American community, her friends, her first love, and her identity. Though the novel tells a very specific story, Lo’s depiction of young adulthood reads as universal. Despite winning dozens of prestigious awards, including the Stonewall Book Award, a Printz Honor, and the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, members of the Velshi Banned Book Club know that literary merit does little to stop censorship—and it has certainly not stopped “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” from being relentlessly targeted for removal and ban across the country.