Yes, Tricks Is Banned!

Tricks weaves together the stories of five teenagers: Eden, a pastor’s daughter; Seth, a gay teen thrown out by his father; Whitney, a model lured by promises of fame; Ginger, escaping an abusive home; and Cody, a gambler chasing a losing streak. Their paths converge in Las Vegas, where each ends up in prostitution through different circumstances but a shared vulnerability. Hopkins’ verse novel is over 600 pages of interlocking narratives that build to a shattering conclusion, refusing to look away from the realities of sexual exploitation and the systems that enable it.

Tricks was the most banned book in the 2022-23 school year with 33 challenges, and it continued its run with 66 bans in 2023-24. The novel’s explicit depictions of sex work, drug use, and violence have made it a primary target for removal campaigns. Like Hopkins’ other books, Tricks is challenged precisely because it depicts the dark realities that some teenagers actually face. Districts in Florida, Texas, Iowa, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have all removed it from library shelves, often as part of bulk removals of Hopkins’ entire body of work.