Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Princess In Black, shannon hale

Princess In Black And Prince In Pink Pulled From Stores After Protest

The Deseret bookstore chain has pulled The Princess In Black And The Prince In Pink by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale and LeUyen Phem after protest

Shannon Hale is the million-plus bestselling author of the Best Friends middle grade graphic novels, some of the best-selling comics in the world. She also has another series of heavily illustrated books, The Princess In Black, written with her husband Dean Hale and drawn by artist LeUyen Pham, which does pretty well too, about a young Princess who dresses untraditionally as the role might demand. However, it's the tenth volume, published in 2023, The Princess In Black And The Prince In Pink, which has suddenly sparked controversy two years after its release. Because it featured a young Prince who dressed untraditionally, too, but in this day and age, that's enough to feed the outrage machine.

Deseret Book is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores along the west of the USA. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, the holding company for business firms owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church.

Recently, a campaign began against Deseret Book for selling The Princess In Black and The Prince In Pink, stating that "Deseret Book peddling a title that says "Prince in Pink?", shoving a book about a boy prancing around in pink with a tiara into the faces of our children? "He was no longer prince Valerian"? The book's target audience? Ages 4-7. Is this not a blatant attack on God's clear design for gender and family? Are we really surprised our youth are drowning in confusion when so-called "faithful" institutions like Deseret Book push this garbage? Doesn't the church itself own Deseret Book, if so, why is Deseret Book undermining everything we stand for?… These books don't just sit there; they corrupt young minds, normalizing perversion and paving the way for moral decay. Please contact Deseret Book and flood their inboxes and phone lines. Demand they pull this book AND author immediately! And fire whoever approved this. I testify that God's judgment is coming for those who corrupt His proper order on the family, yes even Deseret Book."

Well, it seems that Desert Book partially complied, pulling that one title from the line, as it is no longer available on their website, though the other titles seem to be.

Author Shannon Hale posted to Instagram, "This has been a really rough few days. I was just informed of an ongoing controversy around the book THE PRINCESS IN BLACK AND THE PRINCE IN PINK. Apparently, some people were outraged when they noticed it at Deseret Book (a chain of bookstores in the west) and demanded that they remove it from their stock. Deseret Book appears to have complied. Nobody has an obligation to like, let alone buy, any book. But some made direct accusations about me specifically, so I'll respond. No, I didn't contribute to this book with a nefarious purpose. No, I am not paid to create stories with specific agendas. I write from my heart, and the initial idea for this one came from kids. For 10 years, every state I traveled, when I talked about The Princess in Black, at least one kid would ask, Will there be a Prince in Pink? Because they understood the playful idea behind these books. We don't usually see a princess in black, and we also don't usually see a prince in pink. Eventually, we found a fun story where he could step in as a hero. I adore this book. And I am here to speak out for the kids who wanted it. Let's be clear—if a boy who prefers wearing blue and playing with trucks reads this book, it will not turn him into a boy who prefers wearing pink and decorating for parties. The majority of books I was assigned in school were written by men and about men who were attracted to women. They did not turn me into a man or make me attracted to women. Books do not have the power to change who we are at our core. What they can do is help us have empathy for the main character, whether they are like us or different from us.  The Prince in Pink is a fictional character. But there are very real kids who identify with characters like him. A story like this can help validate their right to exist and create space. Kids notice when we show disdain, contempt, or mockery for real or fictional kids like them. Please, let's be mindful of how we speak. Let's choose respect and compassion. The more we feel respect & compassion for ourselves, it can flow out of us to them. The kids are listening. And we need them to be sure that we want them here. All of them."

The eleventh volume, The Princess in Black and the Kitty Catastrophe, was published last month.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!