John Fetterman, author portrait
© Jessica Chou

John Fetterman

John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania native, has dedicated his life to fighting for his state’s forgotten communities. As mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, for thirteen years, he worked to rebuild his community, creating jobs, stopping gun violence, engaging youth, and bringing creative urban policy solutions to Braddock. In 2018, Fetterman was elected as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor and transformed the position into a bully pulpit, advocating for marijuana legalization, economic justice, equal protection for the LGBTQ+ community, and criminal justice reform. He was elected the junior senator from Pennsylvania in November 2022 and was sworn in on January 3, 2023. He and his wife, Gisele, live with their children, Karl, Gracie, and August, in a restored car dealership in Braddock.

Books

Unfettered

Videos from the 2026 First-Year Experience® Conference are now available

We’re pleased to share videos from the 2026 First-Year Experience® Conference. Whether you weren’t able to join us at the conference or would simply like to hear the talks again, please take a moment to view the clips below.   Penguin Random House Author Breakfast Monday, February 17th, 7:15 – 8:45 am PST   This

Read more

What Students Will Be Reading: Campus Common Reading Roundup, 2025-26

With the fall semester in full swing, colleges and universities around the country have announced their Common Reading books for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year. We’ve compiled a list of over 291 programs and their title selections from publicly available sources, which you can download here: First-Year Reading 2025-26. We will continue to update this

Read more

2026 Catalog for First-Year & Common Reading

We are delighted to present our new First-Year & Common Reading Catalog for 2026! From award-winning fiction, poetry, memoir, and biography to new books about the environment, current events, history, public health, science, social justice, student success, and technology, the titles presented in our common reading catalog will have students not only eagerly flipping through

Read more