A small independent bookstore downtown put up a sign that said “Banned Books Sold Here.”

I asked the owner if anyone had complained.

“Plenty,” she said. “Mostly the same people who never buy books.”

“Does it hurt business?”

She laughed. “Tripled sales.”

Now the window’s full and the shelves keep emptying.

Censorship doesn’t silence readers.

It just makes them curious to know what the politicians in power are trying to hide.