Next week is Banned Books Week, and to bring awareness to the continued banning of books in school districts across America, the Penguin Random House’s Banned Book Wagon will be traveling throughout the American South to bring awareness to the banning of books. In conjunction with the Freedom to Read Foundation, PEN American and Free Little Library volunteers plan to give away hundreds of books that have been banned or challenged.
According to the American Library Association, between January 1 and August 31, 2023, their Office for Intellectual Freedom reported 695 attempts to censor library materials and services and documented challenges to 1,915 unique titles – a 20% increase from the same reporting period in 2022, which saw the highest number of book challenges since ALA began compiling the data more than 20 years ago. The vast majority of challenges were to books written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Twelve Books that will be given out on the Banned Book Wago tour will include the following titles:
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot)
- Dear Martin (Nic Stone)
- How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey)
- I am Jazz (Jessica Herthel, Jazz Jennings, Shelagh McNicholas)
- Too Bright to See (Kyle Lukoff)
- The Magic Fish (Trung Le Nguyen)
- Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and Rainbow Flag (Rob Sanders, Steven Salerno)
- The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
- The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
- The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
- Shout (Laurie Halse Anderson)
From October 1-7, the Banned Wagon will go to locations in Atlanta, Georgia, Nashville, TN, New Orleans, LA, and Houston, TX, and will partner with bookstore partners. In addition, ALA will host several events for the public.
