Book Banned from Childhood Bookstore
October 3rd, 2024
My hometown childhood bookstore in Colonie Center, New York, rejected a book signing for me and my baby The Diary of a Sugarbaby. When asked why, they said verbatim it was due to “subject matter.” TDS is a #1 bestseller in lgbtq+ coming of age fiction. It is being taught at the collegiate level. And it’s NYC’s Queer Book Club October pick. My marketing has been strategic and smart. This is the childhood bookstore where I bought my first copy of The Handmaid’s Tale, a book that confronts men raping women and taking control of their bodies. This is the childhood bookstore where I bought my first copy of The Hungers Games, a series of books that showcase children slaughtering other children. But a book about a queer youth overcoming homelessness, abandonment, poverty, and self-prostitution and grappling with the concepts of family, home, and depth in love? That’s too much? Got it. I wonder, whatever could this “subject matter” be?
