Torrey Maldonado

She said, this dad,

He absolutely exists.

He is a caregiver.

He is a relative.

He is a person who we see all the time, but he's never been shown in a picture book.

And she said it was sobering and sobering in a very helpful way because, you know, there's a yin and there's a yang.

There's a heads to a coin and there's a tails to a coin.

And that dad is not the standalone big influence on Toby.

We have the uncle.

And what was the contrast to the sobering, disconnected dad was this really plugged in uncle who was supercharging this little boy.

Yeah.

So I've written four very successful novels.

And a lot of young people from fourth graders all the way through high school who've read my novels say, your books should be graphic novels.

They should be comics.

They should be shows.

They should be movies.

And one of the things they like about my books is the constant references to superheroes.

And one superhero who I've referenced a lot is Miles Morales, Spider-Man.

The reason is because 30 years of teaching and in my career as a writer, I try to encourage young people to trust their spidey sense, to trust their gut.

And in this book, Toby,