Banned Books Week Celebration
Banned Books Week was started in 1982 by the American Library Association as a way to bring attention to censorship. During this week, which usually occurs the last week of September or the first week of October, events take place around the country highlighting intellectual freedom and the consequences that occur when censorship takes place. Banned Books Week brings together libraries, publishers, authors, and schools to celebrate the freedom to read.
At Lake County Public Library, we celebrate by inviting nationally and internationally known authors who have experienced their works being banned. This event has grown rapidly since our inaugural event with Nic Stone in 2022 and we are committed to continuing this event.
Upcoming! October 9, 2025: Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Long Way Down, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raúl the Third), and Ain’t Burned All the Bright (with artwork by Jason Griffin). The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds is also the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC.
2024: Erika Sanchez
Erika L. Sánchez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her debut poetry collection, Lessons on Expulsion, was a finalist for the PEN America Open Book Award. Her debut young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, was a New York Times bestseller, National Book Award finalist, and Tomás Rivera Award winner. Time has recognized it as one of the best YA novels of all time. It is now being made into a film directed by America Ferrera. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter has also been adapted to the theater at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and Seattle Rep Theater. Most recently, Sánchez published a critically acclaimed memoir-in-essays titled Crying in the Bathroom with Viking Books. It won the Chicago Review of Books Nonfiction award. Sánchez was a Fulbright Scholar, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent fellow from the Poetry Foundation, a Princeton Arts Fellow, a recipient of the 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. She lives in Chicago with her family.
2023: George M. Johnson
George M. Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of All Boys Aren’t Blue and We Are Not Broken. They are one of the 2022 TIME100 Next, TIME‘s annual list of rising stars, as well as one of Out’s 100 Most Influential LGBTQ People. Their debut memoir All Boys Aren't Blue has been optioned for television by Gabrielle Union and Sony TV.
2022: Nic Stone
Nic Stone is a critically acclaimed author of young adult fiction whose work celebrates and uplifts diverse voices. Her debut novel Dear Martin was a #1 New York Times bestseller loosely based on a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African American teenagers. Its powerful sequel Dear Justyce was chosen as an NPR Best Book of the Year. Stone is also the author of Odd One Out, Jackpot, Clean Getaway, and the Shuri novel series with Marvel Comics. She is an Atlanta native and graduate of Spelman college.
