Banned Books Week Is 9/26 – 10/2

By Candice Chaplin | July 28 2021 | Promo Opportunity

It’s time for another celebration of the right to read! Join the ongoing and imperative mission by working with booksellers to feature titles whose value has been contested at local and national levels.

“Since it was founded in 1982, Banned Books Week has highlighted the value of free and open access to information by drawing attention to the attempts to remove books and other materials from libraries, schools, and bookstores.” (Bannedbooksweek.org)

This year’s honorary (and inaugural) chair of Banned Books Week, Jason Reynolds: “To censor a book is to damage the framework in which we live,” adds Reynolds. “Any time we eliminate or wall off certain narratives, we are not getting a whole picture of the world in which we live. And navigating the world in a way that is closed-off, closed-minded, is poisonous. It means that we limit our vocabulary, which complicates how we communicate with one another. We have to celebrate stories and ensure that all books have a space on the shelves and the opportunity to live in the psyches of our children, as they grow into the human beings who will inherit this wonderful place.”

Sample titles from the PRH and distributed client lists are below, and to see a more complete list:

  • On Edelweiss, click here
  • On the Backlist Vault, click here
1984
75th Anniversary
978-0-451-52493-5
Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever...This 75th Anniversary Edition includes:• A New Introduction by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Take My Hand, winner of the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Fiction • A New Afterword by Sandra Newman, author of Julia: A Retelling of George Orwell’s 1984“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching...A startling and haunting novel, 1984 creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions—a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.• Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read •
$9.99 US
Jul 01, 1950
Mass Market Paperback
Signet
US, Opn Mkt (no CAN)

The Handmaid's Tale
A Novel
978-0-385-49081-8
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (The New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss.Look for The Testaments, the bestselling, award-winning the sequel to The Handmaid’s TaleIn Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive. At once a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense, The Handmaid’s Tale is a modern classic.Includes an introduction by Margaret Atwood
$17.00 US
Mar 16, 1998
Paperback
Vintage
US, Opn Mkt (no CAN)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
978-0-8129-8002-8
Featuring a heartrending new foreword by Oprah Winfrey and the classic artwork from the original 1970 edition, this repackaged edition of Maya Angelou's groundbreaking literary debut is presented anew for adoring fans and first-time readers alike.
$18.00 US
Apr 21, 2009
Paperback
Random House Trade Paperbacks
US, Canada, Open Mkt

Song of Solomon
A Novel
978-1-4000-3342-3
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An official Oprah Winfrey’s “The Books That Help Me Through” selection • The acclaimed Nobel Prize winner transfigures the coming-of-age story with this brilliantly imagined novel. Includes a new foreword by the author.One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 YearsMilkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. As Morrison follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, she introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized Black world.“Morrison moves easily in and out of the lives and thoughts of her characters, luxuriating in the diversity of circumstances and personality, and revelling in the sound of their voices and of her own, which echoes and elaborates theirs.” —The New Yorker
$17.00 US
Jun 08, 2004
Paperback
Vintage
US, Canada, Open Mkt

Where Did I Come From?
An Illustrated Childrens Book on Human Sexuality
978-0-8184-0253-1
“I give this book top grades for humanness and honesty. Some parents will find that its humorousness helps them over the embarrassment.”—Dr. Spock   Over A Million Copies Sold!   An international and beloved bestselling children’s classic, Where Did I Come From? helps parents and their curious children get up close and personal with the intimate world of human sexuality in the form of a picture book. Told in an age-appropriate voice respectful of young people’s natural intelligence and warmly and relatably illustrated throughout, Where Did I Come From? creates a safe space where families can learn about the traditional facts of life—from the different parts of the body to orgasm to birth.   If you’ve been wondering how to have this talk with your children, look no further for a trusted resource that will give you the tools you need to share this critical information sensitively and factually.   “The best description of sexual intercourse that is out there for children.”—Sexedrescue.com   “You can't deny Mayle's talent for translating adult experience into child-level concepts.” —Kirkus Reviews
$12.95 US
Dec 01, 2000
Paperback
Lyle Stuart
World