Highlights from this episode with acclaimed author Maggie Tokuda-Hall include:

• Writing protagonists that are not role models
• The magic of the 25k word count and refusing to string along dead writing and trashing drafts
• Her thoughts on determining what are *her* stories to tell
• Why telling truth to kids matters and untangling what "age appropriate" means
• Mermaids, serial killers, and another perspective on The Giving Tree
• An overshare that should empower us all to say NOPE!

Maggie Tokuda-Hall is the author of many books, including Love in the Library, and her debut young adult novel The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, which was named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR, Kirkus, School Library Journal and Book Page. Maggie is relentlessly bold in her writing and her truth-telling, and is an absolute force in the world of kid lit and beyond.

IG and TikTok: @maggietokudahall

Website: https://www.prettyokmaggie.com/

Discussion around the Scholastic censorship controversy