Spokane’s not so conservative after all

The following quote comes from page seven of Maine writer Carrie Jones’ young-adult novel “Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend” (Flux, 278 pages, $16.95).

“It’s not every day that my high school boyfriend, Eastbrook High School’s Harvest King, for God’s sake, tells me he’s gay. It’s not every day that the Harvest Queen is dumped in the middle of the road in my mother’s silly subdivision with the stars watching the humiliation and the dogs barking because they want to come help tear my heart out and leave it on the cold, gray ground.

“It isn’t every day that my entire world falls apart.”

If that isn’t an invitation to continue reading, I’ve never read one. According to Jones, though, at least one owner of an independent bookstore told her that he wouldn’t stock it because it has the word “gay” in the title and “grandparents could be offended.”

So I did a quick check around Spokane. I ended up calling three stores before I found five copies at the North Side Borders Store.

Don’t know what that says. But it does buoy my faith in area readers, not to mention the stores that serve us.