Short Bio

Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in creative writing from USF. She is the author of the 2017 Parent's Choice Gold Medal winning picture book, Also an Octopus, illustrated by Benji Davies. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is her debut young adult novel, which was an NPR, Kirkus, School Library Journal and Book Page Best Book of 2020. Its sequel, The Siren, The Song and The Spy comes out September 2023. Her graphic novel, Squad, is an Ignyte and Locus Award nominated comic book, and her newest picture book, Love in the Library, has been named a Best Picture Book of 2022 by Book Page, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Publisher’s Weekly. Maggie is a founding member of Authors Against Book Bans. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, children, and objectively perfect dog.

Less Helpful but More Honest Bio

Maggie Tokuda-Hall is afraid of the dark. She found chapter books very intimidating as a kid, and so she read comic books and Goosebumps almost exclusively from third through fifth grade. The books that most affect the way she thinks about the world are Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson and The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. One time she bit into a jalapeño popper that was too hot and it dripped cheese on her knuckle and burned her so badly she still has a scar and even after a life of poor choices this is still, somehow, her most impressive scar. She enjoys sitting in direct sunlight, noodles, and reading books with her kids. She writes books for kids and teens and adults who remember being kids and teens.