• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Key Selling Points

• Lo's best friend is leaving her behind for makeup, boys, and bras, while Lo wants to stick to her comics and Doctor Who ; luckily, she finds some new friends who support her as she is and help her find her voice as an advocate and activist.
• Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution takes on the adolescent experiences of growing apart in a friendship, finding new friends, allowing yourself the space to grow up at your own pace and having the strength to stand up for what's right, even when the issue doesn't directly affect you.
• From a more political perspective, this book explores gender equality, consent and menstrual hygiene rights, as Lo finds herself confronted with these issues in her middle-school milieu.
• Author Melanie Florence is a huge Doctor Who fan (she has a Doctor Who tattoo!), which inspired her to write Lo as one too; Lo pens letters to the Tenth Doctor throughout the book and uses his brave acts and words of wisdom for inspiration.
• Melanie Florence is the author of such books as Stolen Words (which won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Book Award), Missing Nimâmâ (which won the TD Canadian Children's Book Award) and The Missing .

MELANIE FLORENCE est une autrice primée d’origine crie et écossaise qui vit à Toronto, en Ontario. Elle a écrit Sans Nimâmâ, qui lui a valu le prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse en 2016 ainsi que le prix Golden Oak de la Forêt de la lecture en 2017, et une nomination à titre de finaliste aux prix First Nations Communities READ, la même année. Son album Les mots volés a remporté le prix Ruth et Sylvia Schwartz de littérature jeunesse en 2018, en plus d’être finaliste au prix Marilyn Baillie. Parmi ses autres livres, on compte Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Residential Schools et les romans pour adolescents Just Lucky, He Who Dreams, The Missing, One Night et Rez Runaway. Elle a également coécrit Autumn Bird and the Runaway avec Richard Scrimger.

MELANIE FLORENCE is an award-winning writer of Cree and Scottish heritage based in Toronto, Ontario. She is the author of Missing Nimâmâ, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the 2017 Forest of Reading Golden Oak Award and was a finalist for the 2017 First Nation Communities READ award. Her most recent picture book, Stolen Words, won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and was a finalist for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Her other books include Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Residential Schools and the teen novels Just Lucky, He Who Dreams, The Missing, One Night, and Rez Runaway. Visit her at https://www.melanieflorence.com/.

Melanie Florence's profile page

“Unflinchingly tackles big issues and emphasizes the importance of speaking up for oneself and on behalf of others. A compelling look at friendship, activism, and self-confidence.”

School Library Journal (SLJ)

“An insightful novel with a unique protagonist facing a lot of changes…Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution deals with many topics, including women’s rights, consent, social justice, friendship, cosplay, change, bullying, and sexual harassment. Middle school readers will enjoy reading about the way that Lo deals with the challenges in her life. Highly Recommended.”

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

“Lo finds her voice and learns how to use it, whether that means breaking up an uncomfortable game of spin the bottle or facing down her school principal on issues of gender equality…Florence tackles topics such as sexism, consent, and menstruation with a matter-of-fact tone that will resonate with readers…A thoroughly modern coming-of-age tale.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Florence writes knowingly about middle-school concerns and thoughtfully tackles issues of gender identity, consent, menstruation, and the general lack of access to emergency hygiene products in schools…With engaging, multidimensional characters […] and a topic not often tackled in middle-grade fiction, this timely tale will be popular with older tweens.”

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