Kim Todd Presents Her New Paperback "Sensational"

Author KIM TODD visits Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Wednesday March 29th, at 7pm to read from, discuss, and sign her new paperback release of Sensational: The Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters."

To attend this free event, you just sign up on Eventbrite or contact us at the store prior to the presentation.  Walk-ins cannot be accommodated.

In the waning years of the 19th century, women journalists across the United States risked their safety and reputations to expose the hazardous conditions under which many Americans existed. Donning disguises, they stole into sewing factories to report on child labor, fainted in the streets to test public hospital treatment, posed as lobbyists to reveal corrupt politicians, and more. Thanks to their daring exploits, these “girl stunt reporters” changed laws, helped launch a labor movement, championed women’s rights, and more. After a decade of headlines and fame, though, these trailblazers faced a vicious public backlash. Accused of practicing “yellow journalism,” their popularity waned until “stunt reporter” became a badge of shame.

Sensational is a vivid history that brings to light these writers and pays long overdue tribute to the essential part they played in revolutionizing modern journalism. Kim Todd traces how their influence would arc across the century from the Progressive Era “muckraking” of the early 1900s to the personal “New Journalism” of the 1960s and ’70s to the “immersion journalism” and “creative nonfiction” of today. Todd reveals how these bold and unconventional writers changed how people would tell stories forever.

“A gripping, flawlessly researched, and overdue portrait of America’s trailblazing female journalists. . . . In this important and immensely readable book, Kim Todd has restored these long-forgotten mavericks to their rightful place in American history.”—Abbott Kahler, author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park

KIM TODD is the award-winning author of Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis and Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotic Species in America, winner of the PEN/Jerard Award and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. Her essays and articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Salon, Sierra magazine, Orion, and Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies, among other publications. She is a member of the MFA faculty at the University of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis with her family.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on March 29th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space permits

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Event address: 
Mrs. Dalloway's
2904 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
Sensational: The Hidden History of America's “Girl Stunt Reporters” By Kim Todd Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780062843623
Availability: Most titles are on our shelves or available within 1-5 days.
Published: Harper Perennial - March 21st, 2023