Tess Holliday encourages teens to embrace their true selves.

On this episode of Fully Booked, Tess Holliday joins us to discuss Take Up Space, Y’All: Your Bold & Bright Guide to Self-Love, co-authored by educator Kelly Coon (Running Press Kids, August 26), a body-positive wellness book for teens. In an admiring review, Kirkus calls this interactive and engaging volume a “breezy, accessible, and uplifting guide to body positivity.”

Holliday is one of the world’s most famous plus-size models and the first to be signed to a major agency. She has been a pioneer of the body positivity movement since 2010, broke boundaries with her Cosmo U.K. cover, and was the first-ever digital cover star for Self. She has created and sold her own clothing lines, speaks at panels around the world, consults for H&M on inclusivity and diversity, and hosted the Slumber Party Podcast.

Here’s a bit more from our review of Take Up Space, Y’All: “Holliday, whose body-positive ‘Eff Your Beauty Standards’ social media campaign went viral, acknowledges her commitment to striving to make ‘the world a better and safer place for folks in larger bodies’ and the pride she takes in being ‘part of a collective of people who have helped shift a generation,’ particularly since she grew up without positive role models who looked like her. This work, which Holliday co-wrote with YA author Coon, draws on the expertise of four consultants with diverse backgrounds and professions, and urges teens to practice self-acceptance.…Holliday and Coon strive to include language and content that will engage people of many genders, styles, and cultures.…Even as the work addresses difficult topics like disordered eating and food insecurity, the tone remains upbeat, focusing on messages of kindness and confidence.”

Holliday and I discuss “Eff Your Beauty Standards,” what it was like to collaborate with Coon, why she thinks of Take Up Space, Y’All as a modern version of Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, engaging teen readers, and her go-to karaoke song.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, and John McMurtrie share their top picks in books for the week.

EDITORS’ PICKS:

The Steps by Wendelin Van Draanen (Holiday House)

The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge, illus. by Emily Gravett (Amulet/Abrams)

Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life by Donna Leon (Atlantic Monthly)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

The Bone War by Christian Bensing, illus. by Timothy Feather

Strong Heart by Jess Anselment

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.