Banned Books: An NSK Prize Reading List
According to PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans for the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, there were more than ten thousand instances of bans in US schools where students’ access to books in school libraries and classrooms was restricted or diminished. Here are some of those books by authors connected to the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
Laurie Halse Anderson (finalist, 2021)
Speak
M. T. Anderson (juror, 2011)
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 2: The Kingdom on the Waves
Cherie Dimaline (laureate, 2025)
The Marrow Thieves
Tiffany D. Jackson (juror, 2019)
Monday’s Not Coming
Malinda Lo (finalist, 2025)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Linda Sue Park (finalist, 2021)
A Long Walk to Water
Danny Ramadan (juror, 2025)
Salma the Syrian Chef
Jason Reynolds (finalist, 2021)
All American Boys
Renée Watson (finalist, 2023)
Watch Us Rise
Jacqueline Woodson (finalist, 2017)
