Let America Read: Penguin Random House Launches Third Banned Wagon Tour

The Banned Wagon tour returns for Banned Books Week (October 5-11)  to protect the freedom to read, think, and learn.

New York, NY (September 9, 2025) —The Banned Wagon hits the road this Banned Books Week, beginning October 5, for its third annual tour to celebrate the freedom to read and express ideas, highlight the value of free and open access to information, and confront the harms of censorship.

Powered by Penguin Random House and presented in partnership with EveryLibrary and First Book, the wagon will visit libraries and bookstores across Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, PA—two cities central to American democracy—to take action, save our stories, and preserve First Amendment rights. 

Fighting censorship has never been more urgent. Last January, the U.S. Department of Education called book banning a “hoax;” yet during the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America counted more than 10,000 book bans in public schools. This number does not reflect the growing wave of silent censorship, where educators preemptively pull books from shelves out of fear—often stories that center people of color and/or LGBTQ+ communities—because they may be deemed controversial. 

Amidst this challenging climate, the fight against book bans has been gaining momentum, with Penguin Random House and its coalition of partners at the forefront. In June, the publisher was named to TIME100’s Most Influential Companies of 2025 for its leadership in standing up for free expression.

Additionally, just last month, a federal court in Florida ruled in favor of the First Amendment in the landmark case Penguin Random House v. Gibson, striking down the book banning provisions in House Bill 1069 and restoring access to hundreds of titles that had been banned, including The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank,  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, as well as contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Judy Blume and Stephen King. 

This year alone, Freedom to Read legislation has been introduced in 25 states and passed in seven, providing crucial protections for libraries, educators, and readers. Penguin Random House has helped drive legislative wins in New York, Rhode Island, Colorado, Oregon, and Arizona, with active advocacy underway in several more states.  

Running from October 5^th to October 11^th, the Banned Wagon’s route this year focuses on Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, PA, two cities with deep ties to the country’s founding ideals. Most tour stops will take place at public libraries in response to escalating political attacks on these vital institutions and the services they provide.

At each stop, the Banned Wagon will showcase a selection of 30 books–from picture books to novels– that are currently being banned and challenged across the country and distribute free copies (while supplies last) to event attendees. Attendees will be able to take further action by sending a note to local representatives through Penguin Random House’s partnership with EveryLibrary.

The Banned Wagon is expanding its reach through its Save Our Stories donation initiative. With each scan of the QR code featured on the outside of the wagon and within collateral materials, a book will be donated to a community in need through a partnership with First Book. With their donation, participants will have the opportunity to share a personal note about a banned book they love, because saving our stories starts with sharing them. Thousands of bookstores will also receive Save Our Stories event kits in partnership with American Booksellers for Free Expression. 

“This week is not just for celebration—it’s about action,” said Skip Dye, Chair of Penguin Random House’s Intellectual Freedom Taskforce. “By standing together as publishers, authors, educators, librarians, students, and readers, we can ensure that shelves remain filled with diverse ideas and perspectives, and that the next generation grows up with the freedom to explore them.” 

“Books and stories are essential to our identities, our histories, and our future,” said Alyssa Taylor, Director of Brand Marketing, Penguin Random House. “We’re proud to take the Banned Wagon to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia–two iconic cities in our country’s history–to help protect every American’s access to books that make it possible to read, think, and learn freely.” 

For the first time ever, the tour will kick off with a private Save Our Stories Supper event at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C., an intimate gathering of authors, journalists, politicians, creators, and changemakers to celebrate the power of storytelling and the enduring fight for the freedom to read. Guests include Austin Channing Brown, Ibram X. Kendi, Malinda Lo, Mychal Threets, James Baldwin’s nephews Trevor Baldwin and Karim Karefa-Smart, Randi Weingarten, and more. 

2025 Banned Wagon tour stops include:  

• West End Neighborhood Library: Sunday, October 5 | 1:00PM – 5:00PM
  • 2301 L St. NW, Washington, DC 20037

• Solid State Books: Wednesday, October 8 | 3:00PM – 7:00PM
  • 600 H St. NE, Washington, DC 20002

• Northeast Regional Library: Friday, October 10 | 9:00AM – 1:00PM
  • 2228 Cottman Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19149

• Parkway Central Library: Saturday, October 11 | 10:00AM – 2:00PM
  • 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 

Featured books include:  

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
• This Is Your Time by Ruby Bridges
• My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, illustrated by Erika Meza
• Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
• The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• Colonization and the Wampanoag Story by Linda Coombs
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Change Sings by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Loren Long
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones and edited by Caitlin Roper, Ilene Silverman, and Jake Silverstein
• I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• The Rainbow Parade by Emily Neilson
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Born Ready by Jodie Patterson, illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
• All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Born Behind Bars by Padma Venkatraman
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead 

More details about the Banned Wagon route can be found on the tour website.  

The Banned Wagon is part of Penguin Random House’s ongoing efforts to combat book banning and censorship, which include multiple legal and legislative actions, tailored support for various stakeholders, and advocacy for First Amendment rights. To learn more, please visit https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/banned-books/. 

About Penguin Random House:

Penguin Random House creates books for everyone. We believe books change us, connect us, and carry us toward a better future. As the world’s largest trade publisher, we reach readers in more than 175 countries with stories and ideas across the spectrum of viewpoints and experiences. Each year, we publish more than 14,000 new works spanning fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages and in all print, digital, and audio formats. Penguin Random House is a proud home to the world’s most influential voices, thinkers, and storytellers, including more than 80 Nobel Prize laureates, 140 U.S. Pulitzer Prizes, 20 National Book Awards, and 24 UK Booker Award winners. As fierce champions for free expression and expanding access to books, we celebrate the right to read, think, and learn. Every day we strive to build a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world. With businesses in more than 20 countries, Penguin Random House was formed in 2013 and has been solely owned by Bertelsmann since 2020.