Erin Steel speaks with Toronto author Melanie Florence about her latest book “Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution” published by Orca Book Publishers in April 2024.
This new episode of the AW Live podcast (33 mins) can be found here on AW Live.
“Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution” is a funny yet moving coming-of-age novel. Lo’s best friend, Jazz, is ditching her for the popular crowd, makeup, and boys. But when Lo finds new friends who share her love of comics and Doctor Who, she discovers her voice – and the confidence to speak up for what’s right.
Highlights from the podcast:
“It’s about a girl finding her voice and speaking up, and she’s never been in that position because she’s always been a follower.”
“If I’m going to take risks and try something completely different, what is important to me? What am I passionate about? And Doctor Who was really weirdly one of those things.”
“I was a big Judy Blume fan and those are the books I gave to my daughter. And they’re actually books I read again before I started writing this because I know that Judy Blume’s characters have such a strong voice and a strong presence.”
“I listen to kids. I appreciate kids. I have kids. So I think over my career I made it a point to really listen to the way kids talk and communicate. And not write kids like an adult writing a kid.”
“It’s always interesting when you have a character who still has this innocence, but everyone around her is pushing so hard to grow up.”
About the Author
Melanie has been writing full-time since 2010 and has written a bunch of books, but she’s probably best known for her picture books, Missing Nimama and Stolen Words, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the 2018 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award respectively.
In her spare time, Melanie plays guitar, reads manga, collects vinyl, listens to really loud rock music and slightly quieter K-pop, gets tattoos and drinks too much coffee. She lives in Toronto with her family.