Six exceptional public high school seniors from across the country have been chosen as winners of the 2024 Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, a national grassroots organization that advocates for diversity in children’s literature. This year marks the first time the Freedom of Expression Award has been presented.
The Freedom of Expression Award was specifically created in response to the rise in book bans across the country, and to celebrate the power of books and stories. Applicants to the new award were asked to answer the prompt, “Tell us about one banned book that changed your life and why.”