SPEAK UP FOR BANNED BOOKS
Prepare to support frequently challenged books this Banned Books Week, September 22 – 28! Enter for a chance to win a Speak Up for Banned Books kit including a poster, bookmarks, and buttons to share in your school or library during Banned Books Week and beyond.
RAISE YOUR VOICE
At Macmillan Publishers, nothing is more important to us than the power of sharing ideas and stories. This Banned Books Week, our authors and employees are raising our voices in support of frequently challenged books and invite you to join the conversation.
READ AND SHARE FREQUENTLY CHALLENGED BOOKS
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group stands against censorship, and in support of the librarians and teachers who are doing their part to share a love of reading with their students. We believe that all readers deserve access to an inclusive selection of titles and we are committed to working with our authors to reach readers with their stories. Visit The National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom to report censorship in your community.
Want to host a Freedom to Read Roundtable event for your community? Find a step-by-step guide and more online here!
Read on for more resources to use in your library or classroom!
Click the tabs below to view more books in each age category.
Why?: A Conversation About Race by Taye Diggs; illustrated by Shane Evans
A piercing picture book about racial injustice from a child’s perspective from Taye Diggs and Shane Evans.
Download the Discussion Guide
Watch an interview with author Taye Diggs
Follow Shane Evans on Instagram
Add Why to your Goodreads Shelf
That’s Betty: The Story of Betty White by Gregory Bonsignore; illustrated by Jennifer M. Potter
An innovative and joyful picture book biography that celebrates the life and achievements of TV legend, pioneer, and activist Betty White.
Download the Book Résumé
Share an interview with Gregory Bonsignore
Add That’s Betty to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Jennifer M. Potter on Twitter
Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy; illustrated by Ekua Holmes
A child reflects on the meaning of being Black in this moving and powerful anthem about a people, a culture, a history, and a legacy that lives on.
Download the Book Résumé
Play the Black is a Rainbow Color playlist on Spotify
Share an interview with Angela Joy
Read an interview with Angela Joy and Ekua Holmes
Follow Angela Joy on Twitter
Add Black is a Rainbow Color to your Goodreads Shelf
We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom; illustrated by Michaela Goade
Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption.
Download the Book Résumé
Download the Activity Kit
Watch the Snack Time with MacKids story time with Carole Lindstrom
Take the pledge to be a water protector
Download We Are Water Protectors graphics to share on social media
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard; illustrated by Juana Martinez Neal
Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner
Download the Book Résumé
Share the Discussion Guide
Watch a story time with Kevin Noble Maillard
Follow Kevin Noble Maillard on Twitter
Follow Juana Martinez-Neal on Twitter
Listen to the NPR Interview
It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity by Theresa Thorn; illustrations by Noah Grigni
A picture book that introduces the concept of gender identity to the youngest reader from writer Theresa Thorn and illustrator Noah Grigni.
Download the Book Résumé
Watch a story time
Share these discussion questions from The Tiny Activist
Follow Theresa Thorn on Twitter
It’s Okay to be a Unicorn by Jason Tharp
An inspiring picture book, Jason Tharp’s It’s Okay To Be A Unicorn! features a unicorn pretending to be a horse—until he learns to embrace his true self.
Watch a storytime video with Jason Tharp.
Download the storytime kit
Learn how to draw a unicorn on YouTube
Follow Jason Tharp on Twitter
Old Macdonald Had a Baby by Emily Snape; illustrated by K-Fai Steele
A non-traditional family stars in Old MacDonald Had a Baby, a contemporary picture book from Emily Snape and K-Fai Steele.
Download the Book Résumé
Share this storytime video
Add Old MacDonald Had a Baby to your GoodReads shelf
Follow K-Fai Steele on Twitter
Starla Jean by Elana K. Arnold; illustrated by A.N. Kang
Printz Honor winner and National Book Award Finalist Elana K. Arnold makes her chapter book debut with this charming story of a girl and her chicken, irresistibly illustrated by A. N. Kang.
Download the Book Résumé
Download the Starla Jean Activity Guide
Read and share the whole Starla Jean series
Add Starla Jean to your Goodreads Shelf
Share this video of Elana K. Arnold defending the right to read
Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper by Debbi Michiko Florence; illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic
Debbi Michiko Florence’s charming chapter book series for young readers, illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic, stars Jasmine Toguchi—a spunky, eight-year-old Japanese-American heroine unafraid to try new things while learning life lessons about family, friendship, and sisterhood along the way.
Download the Book Résumé
Share the Jasmine Toguchi Series
Download Jasmine Toguchi Activities
Follow Debbi Michiko Florence on Twitter
Add Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper to your Goodreads Shelf
Go With the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann; illustrated by Lily Williams
High school students embark on a crash course of friendship, female empowerment, and women’s health issues in Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann’s graphic novel Go With the Flow.
Download the Book Résumé
Post Lily William’s Banned Books Week Message
Share the Book Trailer
Read an Excerpt
Add Go with the Flow to your Goodreads Shelf
Read our Author Spotlight
Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne with Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood; illustrated by Theodore Taylor III; foreword by Jason Reynolds
Woke: A Young Poet’s Guide to Justice is a collection of poems to inspire kids to stay woke and become a new generation of activists.
Download the Book Résumé
Find resources on TeachingBooks.net
Share a video of Mahogany L. Browne and Jason Reynolds
Add Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice to your Goodreads Shelf
Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
Kat Leyh’s Snapdragon is a magical realist graphic novel about a young girl who befriends her town’s witch and discovers the strange magic within herself.
Download the Book Résumé
Download the Discussion Guide
Take the Virtual Book Tour
Add Snapdragon to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Kat Leyh on Twitter
Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel
Bad Kitty is bad. Very bad. But she doesn’t always mean to be. Whether she is trying to be a good little kitty and eat her vegetables or be a quiet little kitty and behave at a birthday party, it seems that trouble finds a way to her.
Download the Activity Kit
Watch the Story Time
Watch Bad Kitty interview Nick Bruel
Add Bad Kitty to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Nick Bruel on Twitter
We Need to Talk About Vaginas: An IMPORTANT Book About Vulvas, Periods, Puberty, and Sex! by Dr. Allison K. Rodgers; illustrated by Annika Le Large
Do you know the difference between a vagina and a vulva? If you’re not sure, We Need to Talk About Vaginas by TikToker Dr. Allison K. Rodgers could be for you!
Download the Book Résumé
Follow Dr. Allison Rogers on Instagram
Share this interview with Dr. Allison Rogers on Romper
Add We Need to Talk About Vaginas to your Goodreads Shelf
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
American Born Chinese is the winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, a 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring, a 2007 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, and a New York Times bestseller.
Download the Book Résumé
Download the Discussion Guide
Share a video of Gene Luen Yang
Read an interview celebrating the 10 year anniversary
This One Summer written by Mariko Tamaki; illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
A New York Times bestseller
A 2015 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2015 Michael L. Printz Honor Book
An Eisner Award Winner
Download the Book Résumé
Download the Discussion Guide and Reading Group Guide
Watch an interview with Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
Add This One Summer to your GoodReads shelf
All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George Matthew Johnson
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.
Download the Book Résumé
Share an interview with George Matthew Johnson
Use these discussion questions to start a conversation
Watch the short film trailer
Read the MacKids Spotlight
Follow George Matthew Johnson on Twitter
Flamer by Mike Curato
Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in Flamer, his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love.
Download the Book Résumé
Read the MacKids Spotlight
Download the Discussion Guide
Read about the inspiration
Share the Writing Queer Comics for Teens video
Follow Mike Curato on Twitter
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
In this powerful novel, a teenage heroine delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school.
Download the Book Résumé
Watch this video of Laurie Halse Anderson
Download the Discussion Guide
Visit RAINN online to learn more
Follow Laurie Halse Anderson on Twitter
Add Speak to your Goodreads Shelf
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
A fairy tale for any age, Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.
Download the Book Résumé
Download the Reading Guide
Follow Jen Wang on Twitter
Add The Prince and the Dressmaker to your Goodreads Shelf
Watch this video of Jen Wang
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
An unlikely teenager starts a feminist revolution at a small-town Texas high school in this novel from Jennifer Mathieu, author of The Truth About Alice.
Download the Book Résumé
Read an interview with Jennifer Mathieu
Share the trailer for the Moxie Netflix movie
Check out the Moxie Tumblr
Add Moxie to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Jennifer Mathieu on Twitter
Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu
A tragic kidnapping leads to an unlikely friendship in this novel about finding light in the midst of darkness from the author of The Truth About Alice.
Download the Book Résumé
Share the Horn Book interview
Add Afterward to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Jennifer Mathieu on Twitter
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
A New York Times Bestseller
Stonewall Book Award Winner—Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist
This riveting nonfiction book for teens about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment tells the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, California.
Download the Book Résumé
Share the Discussion Guide
Read the article that inspired the book
Watch The 57 Bus Book Talk
Follow Dashka Slater on Twitter
Forever for a Year by B.T. Gottfred
Told in Carolina and Trevor’s alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever.
Download the Book Résumé
Follow B.T. Gottfred on Twitter
Add Forever for a Year to your Goodreads Shelf
Read an essay by B.T. Gottfred
The Nerdy and the Dirty by B.T. Gottfred
A cool girl–with an X-rated internal life–and a socially-inept guy prove that opposites attract in this honest look at love, sexuality, and becoming your true self.
Follow B.T. Gottfred on Twitter
Add The Nerdy and the Dirty to your Goodreads Shelf
Read an interview with B.T. Gottfred
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The first book in the #1 New York Times– and USA Today-Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer like you’ve never seen it before, now with new cover art! See where the futuristic YA fairytale saga all began, with the tale of a teenage cyborg who must fight for Earth’s survival against villains from outer space.
Download the Book Résumé
Share the Discussion Guide
Visit The Universe of Marissa Meyer
Watch the Lunar Ever After Trailer
Add Cinder to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Marissa Meyer on Instagram
Feynman by Jim Ottaviani; illustrated by Leland Myrick
In this substantial graphic novel biography, First Second presents the larger-than-life exploits of Nobel-winning quantum physicist, adventurer, musician, world-class raconteur, and one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century: Richard Feynman.
Download the Discussion Guide
Add Feynman to your Goodreads Shelf
Follow Jim Ottaviani on Twitter
