New Zealand's government, responding to lobbying from a conservative group, has banned "supply or sale" of the young adult novel Into the River. Thus guaranteeing it will become the Number 1 Most Read Book by Young Adults in New Zealand this year (even though, under the ban, people who even loan the book to a friend face a substantial fine, though it's not illegal to possess it).
Also, a clever way to go from being seen as a green and pleasant and Hobbit-friendly and fern-flag-waving country to being a provincial backwater. Banning books is so last century.
New Zealand bans award-winning teenage novel after outcry from Christian group
Ted Dawe’s Into the River is banned from shops, schools and distribution across the country with fines of up to $10,000 for those ignoring it
Currently the #1 best selling book on Amazon in Children's, for both physical and kindle editions.
Okay, a bit more research: There are exactly SEVEN reviews on Amazon (as of this writing) of which four of them were basically "Banned? Seriously?"
What this says to me is that nobody had heard of this book, at least in the US. Now, I'll be surprised if it doesn't become an international best seller with a movie deal.
Personally, it's already sitting on my Kindle.