At penguin random house, we believe in the right to freedom of expression and the protection of writers from censorship. reading is indispensable for an informed and engaged democracy, and the dramatic increase in efforts to ban books from schools and public libraries, many of them by bipoc or lgbtq voices, threatens the advancement of our society and culture.
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You are reading: Penguin random house banned books
We are committed to defending our authors and supporting equitable access to books through continued partnerships and donations to a wide range of associations and non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and the right to read.
We recently expanded our partnership with Pen America, an organization that defends the freedom to write and protects free speech, with a one-time donation of $100,000 to safeguard free speech and banned books. we will also increase our financial support for these issues over the next five years.
Additional partner organizations include:
- american library association
- banned books week coalition
- #freadom fighters
- national coalition against censorship
- national council of teachers of english
- school library journal
along with school library journal, we partnered with pen america, the national coalition against censorship, the national council of teachers of english, freadom, and library journal to create a poster emphasizing the importance of free speech as challenges and book bans spread across the country. For more information and to download the poster, click here.
events:
reading is a right: what parents need to know about book bans and repression
We hosted an important conversation between students, teachers, parents, librarians, and award-winning author, Kyle Lukoff, when we got L.O.U.D. (listen, organize, encourage, interrupt)! We break down what the freedom to read represents in our culture, how curtailing that freedom through book bans is harming our children, and the steps parents and caregivers can take to fight for their children’s access to a high quality education.
banned books: when books are threatened, where do we turn?
Facing threats of censorship and losing diverse perspectives, parents, teachers, and librarians ask the question “when books are threatened, where do we go?” we host an evening of programming in partnership with pen america dedicated to examining this pressing question. On the multifaceted topic, we heard from concerned citizens navigating access roads and resistance on the ground, as well as authors who have faced some of the toughest calls for a ban. In addition, a representative from Pen America spoke about how we can support our target communities. The event culminated in a discussion with Ibram X. kendi (how to be an anti-racist), nikole hannah-jones (the 1619 project), and nic stone (dear martin), moderated by dr. emily knox, associate professor in the school of information sciences at the university of urban illinois-champagne.
resources
Are you a librarian, educator, parent, or creator affected by the book ban, or a concerned citizen looking to learn more and take action? here are some resources that might help.
resources for educators
- Censorship Crisis Hotline
- National Anti-Censorship Coalition
- National Council of Teachers of English
- Censorship Challenge Resource Center school book
- juvenile censorship database
- webinar: protecting the #freedom to read
- united against book ban
librarian resources
- how to address challenges to books by problem authors faq
- censorship crisis hotline
- censorship advice hotline
- confidential challenge support
- the freedom to read foundation
- intellectual freedom and censorship faq
- intellectual freedom consulting services
- leroy c . merritt humanitarian fund
- practical steps to navigate intellectual freedom challenges: interviews with tasslyn magnusson and ashley hope peréz – intellectual freedom blog
- schoolbook challenge resource center
- school library magazine
- united by libraries
resources for parents
- banned books week coalition
- readbrightly.com
- school book challenge resource center
- action kit against ncac book censorship
- get ready stay ready: a community action toolkit for parents & caregivers
resources for students
- a teaching for students on banned books
- a tip sheet for students on how to fight book bans
- authors guild banned book club
- censorship crisis hotline
- high school fire network
- children’s right to read program
- Schoolbook Challenge Resource Center</li
- Youth Censorship Database
- Youth Free Speech Program
resources for authors and illustrators
- censorship crisis hotline
- pen international circle of publishers
- tip sheet for authors of banned books
penguin random house prohibited titles
here are some frequently questioned and banned* penguin random house titles, but this is by no means exhaustive. If you have experienced bans on a book that is not listed here, please click here to contact us. The Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the most contested books among publishers, which can be found here.
george orwell’s 1984
a raisin in the sun by lorraine hansberry
a touch of red: the life and art of horace pippen by jen bryant
a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini
time to kill by john grisham
the adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain
alice’s adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass by lewis carroll
all are welcome by alexa penfold
all quiet on the western front by erich maria remark
near perfect by brian katcher
american psycho by bret easton ellis
george orwell’s animal farm
be jazz by jazz jennings
loved by toni morrison
black like me by john howard griffin
bless me, last of rudolfo anaya
born a crime by trevor noah
boy erased by garrard conley
city of thieves by david benioff
dear martin by nic stone
donovan’s big day by leslea newman
west exit by mohsin hamid
fat boy rules the world by k.l. going
hurdles by august wilson
fifty shades of gray by e.l. james
frankenstein: mary shelley’s 1818 text
fresh ink (catch, pull, drive) edited by lamar giles
See Also: Pretty Little Liars, Explained
girl crushed by katie heaney
neighborhood feminism by mikki kendall hooked by catherine greenman
how to be an anti-racist by ibram x. kendi
john gardner’s grendelgrowing up: it’s a mavis jukes girl thing
i am jazz by jessica herthel and jazz jennings illustrated by shelagh mcnicholas
I know why Maya Angelou’s caged bird sings
truman capote’s cold blood
the invisible man by ralph ellison
jack by a.m. houses
james and the giant peach by roald dahl
lady chatterley’s lover by d.h. lorenzo
last night at malinda lo’s telegraph club
walt whitman blades of grass
life is funny by e.r. frank
lily and dunkin by donna gephart
lolita by vladimir nabokov
seeking john green alaska deluxe edition
lord of the flies by william goldingmastiff by tamora pierce
maus i: the story of an art spiegelman survivor
moby dick by herman melville
my terrible/incredible popularity plan by seth rudetsky
naomi and ely’s no kiss list by rachel cohn and david levithan
norwegian wood (movie related edition) by haruki murakami
obie is man enough for schuyler to dance
odd one out by nic stone
of mice and men by john steinbeck
on earth we are briefly beautiful
a day in the life of ivan denisovich by aleksandr solzhenitsyn
one flew over ken kesey’s cuckoo’s nest
ordinary people by judith guest
persepolis by marjane satrapi
pet by akwaeke emezi
preparation by curtis sittenfeld
pride: the story of harvey’s milk and rob sanders’ rainbow flag
Priest’s Dad by Patricia Lockwoodrage: A Love Story by Julie Ann Peters
red to the bone by jacqueline woodson
siddhartha by hermann hesse
slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut
snow falls on cedars by david guterson
so jon ronson has publicly embarrassed you
children and lovers of d.h. lawrence and d. h. lorenzo
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. heinlein
robert greene’s 48 laws of power
the adventures of tom sawyer by mark twain
the autobiography of malcolm x by malcolm x
kate chopin awakening
toni morrison’s bluest eye
See Also: 10 Best Self-Awareness Books for Increasing Reflection
the call of the wild by jack londonthe center of the world by andreas steinhofel
robert cormier’s chocolate war
the purple color of alice walker
the communist manifesto of karl marx
the curious incident of the dog of the night by mark haddonel dark descent of elizabeth frankenstein by kiersten white
the diary of a young woman by anne frank
the face on the milk carton by caroline b. cooney
the freedom writers journal (20th anniversary edition) by freedom writers and erin gruwell
the grapes of wrath by john steinbeck
the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald
the boys book: an owner’s manual for teens by mavis jukes
the handmaid’s tale by margaret atwood
the handmaid’s tale (graphic novel) a novel by margaret atwood illustrated by renee nault
the house of the spirits of isabel allende
the house on mango street by sandra cisneros
the immortal life of henrietta is missing by rebecca skloot
arsonists of r. or kwon
upton sinclair’s jungle
the kite runner by khaled hosseiniel magic fish of trung le nguyen
the merchant of venice by william shakespeare
yangsook choi name jar
the outsiders by s. me. hinton intro by jodi picoult
the photo of dorian gray by oscar wilde
the satanic verses of salman rushdie
the scarlet letter by nathaniel hawthorne
the sun also rises by ernest hemingway
the wills of margaret atwood
the wizard of oz by him. Frank Baum
the world according to john irving garp
things fall apart by chinua achebe
thirteen reasons why jay asher’s 10th anniversary edition
this is my america by kim johnson
this is your time by ruby bridges
judy blume’s tiger eyes
the twelfth night of william shakespeare
twisted by laurie halse anderson
two boys kissing by david levithan
two can keep a secret by karen m. mcmanus
ulysses by james joyce
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
we all fall down by robert cormier
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by wade hudson and cheryl willis hudson
white bird of r. J. palace
wide awake by david levithan
women in love with d.h. lorenzo
year of wonders by geraldine brooks
can you hear me edited by betty franco
*A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based on the objections of an individual or group. a ban is the removal of those materials. (American Library Association)
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