Barney Roth

As the newly appointed editor of the George Mason Standard, Barney Roth is a considerate, thoughtful young man who aspires to be a writer. A favorite of librarian Karen Salters, Barney is disturbed to learn she has resigned her position under questionable circumstances. Her departure, however, is soon overshadowed by a concerned parents' move to ban the novel Huckleberry Finn. As Barney, his friend Luke, new librarian Deirdre Fitzgerald, and history instructor Nora Baines organize to ensure the novel's position in the school, Barney learns Principal Michael Moore has been secretly censoring novels for several semesters. Following a personal interview with Karen Salters, Barney learns Principal Moore has not only censored several books, but has also torn pages from poetry anthologies, and even the Holy Bible. In an effort to stop Moore, Barney and his faculty advisor, Maggie Crowley, write a report for the newspaper detailing the...